Mission on the High Seas
by Ivy Aithne
Summary: [sasusaku] 23 year old Haruno Sakura was assigned to disguise herself and kill the notorious captain of a pirate ship. Naturally, she wasn't expecting to meet her long lost teammate along the way...
1. Welcome Aboard

Chapter One: Welcome Aboard

The docks were teeming with people.

That was the first observation that Haruno Sakura, twenty-three, noticed as she stepped out from under the shade of the carriage she was riding in. Her hand came up to shield her eyes from the bright sun, and it allowed her to see more of the docks clearly. Workers walked back and forth loading the ships with large crates filled with goods ready to be shipped all over the world; fishermen were trying to sell their catch of the morning; and children were running around happily enamored with the thrill of being so close to the ocean.

She had never seen the ocean before this. For most of her life, she was stuck in Konoha, the hidden leaf village, surrounded by lush forests and small enclosed spaces. Here, everything was so open! Sakura closed her eyes and took in the smell of the sea and the way the wind swept through her hair.

A few days ago, the fifth Hokage had assigned her an S-ranked mission. She was to board a pirate ship as a crew member and assassinate the captain. The captain was said to be a ruthless man who killed just because he felt like it. He attacked innocent unsuspecting merchant ships, stole their goods and killed the men on board. The government finally took notice after it became evident that such behavior was affecting the overall economy of Japan. People were beginning to rebel against the government for not doing anything, so as a result, ninjas were pulled to try and destroy the rebel group.

All of those ninja were found by the notorious Akatsuki Organization and killed, or so the reports said.

"I'm going to do this, and I'm going to come out alive," Sakura muttered to herself.

_Hell yeah!_ screamed Inner Sakura. _We're gonna kick some pirate butt!_

And so she stood on the docks, dressed in baggy cargo pants that hid her leg wrappings and held her kunai and shuriken. Long brown hair changed from the original rosette color by a concealment jutsu was tied into a thick braid that ended just past her shoulder blades. A slightly overlarge dark blue shirt with a few patches sewn in finished off her disguise, making her look every bit like the daughter of a low middle-class fisherman.

"Sakura, the ship will be leaving soon."

The girl snapped out of her thoughts as she turned her green eyes upon the speaker.

"Hai, Neji-kun, let's go."

Her companion, a young man who was about the same age as she, picked up the large duffel bag that contained her belongings with ease. They walked for a while, looking for the ship Sakura was to sail on.

"What was the name of the ship again, Neji-kun?"

"You'll see when you get there."

"Why are you here in the first place? I thought I was the only one Tsunade-sama sent."

"You're actually just back-up," Neji replied, pearly eyes scanning their surroundings.

"Oh. That doesn't answer my question though."

"I'm here to make sure you get to the right place."

"Because I don't know the ship?"

There was no answer from Neji, so she assumed it was true. How Tenten could ever marry this taciturn man was a mystery to the naturally boisterous pink-haired woman.

As they neared the ship, they saw less and less people. Those they did see were rough-looking men who walked around with narrowed eyes. Cargo was being lifted onto the ships, but other than that, no other noises were heard.

"Neji-kun, what's my name again?"

Neji rolled his pearly eyes. "We've been over this before. You're Yoshizumi Nami, daughter of Yoshizumi Ryo, the late fisherman of the high seas. Don't forget that."

"I won't. Guess I'm a little nervous."

They walked a little further before Neji stopped all together. He dropped her duffel bag onto the ground.

"This is your ship. Good luck, Sakura."

"Bye Neji-kun!"

With a poof, Neji disappeared, leaving Sakura by herself staring at the huge ship. She was about to walk toward it so as to see the name of the ship, but a voice stopped her.

"Hey, you there! You're the new guy, right?"

Sakura turned, only to see a man with silver hair and glasses.

"What's Kabuto doing here?" Sakura asked herself silently. For once, her inner self had nothing to say, which unnerved her.

"Hai," she replied, voice slightly lowered by her chakra.

He gave her a calculating look, light glaring off his glasses, which effectively hid his emotions.

"This way."

He led her onto the colossal ship and pointed to the left. "That's the forecastle, where you and your shipmates will be living. There's a hammock for you in there. You main job here is as a medic-our last one was thrown overboard in a tragic accident."

"Tragic accident my foot," thought Sakura as she followed Kabuto around the ship, memorizing his directions and faces she came across.

"What's your name again?"

"Yoshizumi, sir. Yoshizumi Nami."

"Very well, Yoshizumi. I am Kabuto, second mate. You'll know everyone else soon enough. We set sail within the hour."

Sakura bowed, much to her disgust, and Kabuto left her. She made her way across the deck to the forecastle to settle her things down. Opening the door, she could barely see anything. The only source of light came from a corner in the interior of the room. Dirty garments hung from the ceiling along with cheap pictures-some rather crude ones at that. Cups, shoes, and bits and pieces of rope lay here and there, scattered across the floor. In the center of the room sat a chess board balanced precariously on a wooden chest. Hammocks lined the walls, some holding bodies while others were empty.

"Ugh," thought Sakura, looking at the sight before her, "So this is the life of a sailor."

"Stop standing there like an idiot. Get in here."

Snapping to attention, Sakura quickly shut the door and went farther into the dark room. She saw a few faces illuminated by the light, but she doubted that they could see her well.

"Come into the light. We won't bite," came a friendly voice. Sakura offered a small smile and took a few steps toward the light, slowly. One of the figures stood up.

"I'm Kin Tsuchi."

"Hello," said Sakura softly, looking at the girl that stood before her. She had shoulder-length black hair and dark eyes.

"She fought Shikamaru," remembered Sakura, thinking back ten years. Bells on string.

"It's very rude of you to not introduce yourself when Kin did so first," said another with his head wrapped in bandages.

"Ah-gomen. I'm Yoshizumi Nami."

Sakura felt many pairs of eyes upon her.

"Why do you keep your hair long, Yoshizumi?" asked Kin, narrowing her eyes, "Don't tell me you're as vain as some peacock, keeping your hair at that length. Hardly characteristic of a sailor."

Sakura laughed nervously, one hand on the back of her head. "Family tradition. My father was a fisherman-he said that by having a fishtail braid, I could have more luck catching fish!"

Kin smirked. "This isn't a fishing ship-you won't be needing that hair." She lunged and grabbed a kunai out of her pocket. "Let me cut it for you."

"Ah-"

Sakura dodged as Kin lept at her.

"I'd rather not, I mean. I'm used to the weight and all, and I'd hate to be a hindrance just because I can't get used to the fact that my head feels too light. Perhaps after a few days at sea, after all, I've really only been in fishing boats…"

"Then you know nothing of life on the high seas."

"No, not really."

"Then why are you on this ship? Wouldn't you agree, mates? That she's a little odd?"

There were murmurs of agreement among those who sat behind her, hidden by the shadows of the forecastle.

"Well then, I'm sure, Yoshizumi, that you wouldn't be game for a…test, of sorts?"

"Test?" asked Sakura, timidly. She really wasn't liking the evil glint in Kin's eyes.

"Naturally. I mean, how else can we possibly evaluate you? Every man and woman on this crew does his or her share of work, and that involves climbing, cutting, slashing, and cleaning. Let's see your hands, girl."

Sakura held out her hands, palm side up. Kin touched them.

"Feh. Like bloody cream. You're not cut out for the life of a sailor. Get off the ship."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Get off this ship. Fisherman's daughter? As if," Kin retorted, placing her hands on her hips.

"Leave her alone, Kin. You're just mad because she's got long hair," came a deeper voice. The owner stepped into the light, revealing spiky black hair.

"Psh. All girls with long hair are vain little freaks. Cut it off, I say," was Kin's reply.

The man ignored her and introduced himself. "The name's Abumi Zaku, little lady."

The wheels in Sakura's head were already turning. Shino had fought him, and Sasuke had broken both his arms before that. Why was he on this ship? She thought he had died.

_People who make deals with the Devil can't die_, said Inner Sakura, menacingly.

"Pleased to meet you," was Sakura's reply, much to the frustration of Inner Sakura, who was opting for the "WTF why do you still have your arms and why aren't you dead" reply.

"Don't be so pleased yet," he said, "I agree with Kin. We should test you. After all, we can't have anyone WEAK on this ship. The captain wouldn't allow it."

"Let her climb the royal yard, Zaku-kun," said Kin, smirking, "I'll bet this sissy couldn't do it."

"I agree. Does everyone else?"

The shadows all gave an appreciative murmur.

"You do know, Yoshizumi, that the royal yard is the highest sail on the main mast? One hundred and thirty feet up-you can reach it only in two ways: the ratlines or the mast itself. Which way would you prefer?"

Sakura thought for a moment. She could easily climb up the mast itself by forcing her chakra to her hands and feet, but she was supposed to be a mere medic-nin without much power.

"The ratlines," she stated confidently.

"Best be careful," came another voice, "Hope you're up to it. If you slip and fall, you'll be lucky if you fall into the sea and drown. Otherwise, you'll crash onto the deck. So either way, it's either drown or be maimed. Your choice."

"How about I live to tell the tale?"

Kin laughed. "Hardly. You're such a sissy. Come on. Let's do it now."

"Now?" asked Sakura, incredulously.

"No time like the present! We've got another hour before we set sail anyway."

Zaku and Kin ushered her out of the forecastle with everyone else following. _Come on, Sakura. You can do this! Think of all that tree-climbing Kakashi-sensi made you do. You've got this in the bag!_ said Inner Sakura, cheering Sakura on.

"Last time I checked, trees weren't a hundred and thirty feet tall. At least, not the ones we climbed," thought Sakura, darkly.

The crew all went to the deck, with Sakura in the lead being pushed forward by Kin.

"Let's see how all that hair will help you now," said Kin with a sardonic smile on her face.

"Are you obsessed with hair or something?" snapped Sakura, vein popping out of her forehead, "I swear that's all you ever talk about."

"Humph. Start climbing."

And so Sakura did. She scampered up the ratlines easily, careful not to look down. She was always slightly afraid of heights.

"She's not going to have the stomach to go all the way up there," came a condescending voice, "Someone follow her to make sure she makes it all the way up."

"I'll go."

Sakura heard someone start up the ratlines behind her, and it made her try all the harder. She was determined to make Kin eat her words-Kin always thought her to be vain because of her long hair. She shrugged.

"Shikamaru beat her anyway. It doesn't matter," she thought as she climbed steadily up.

It was a matter of time before she realized that she had chosen the wrong lines to climb. There was a set of lines that went directly up to the royal yard, but she had taken the ones that led to the first trestletree, which was the top of the lower mast, instead. As a result, she would have to inch her way across the first trestletree and up the second set of ratlines. She did so carefully, controlling her chakra to her hands and feet so that she would not fall to her death, which Kin was apparently looking very forward to.

This set of lines led her to the topsail spar, but there was nowhere to rest there. She could feel herself slowly getting tired from her intense concentration.

_Come on, Sakura! You're gonna show that little bitch exactly what you're made of!_

Smiling slightly at her inner self, Sakura hefted herself up higher. Slowly but surely, she made it one hundred and thirty feet up from the deck onto the royal yard. She couldn't see the man who was following her, but she could sense that he was there. He seemed rather familiar, but she couldn't really put her finger on why she felt so comfortable with him following her. Pausing for a few moments more to let the man know that she was indeed at her destination, she started back down.

She didn't know exactly how terrifying that would be when she started up the lines. At least on the way up, she could see where she was going. On her way down though, she had to grope around for the rungs of the ratlines. It was frightening, but she did it, landing with a double back flip onto the deck.

"Huzzah!" shouted some of the crew, happily. Kin was seething, and Zaku was smirking. He did, after all, had some faith in the girl.

Sakura rose from her landing and stood up, smiling sweetly.

"Yoshizumi Nami," came a voice from behind her. Sakura spun around, smile quickly fading into a shocked expression. Before her stood the man who was following her, complete with the overly familiar onyx eyes that haunted her dreams and the chicken-like raven hair.

"Welcome aboard the _Sharingan_."

xxx

A/N: Did you like it? I hope so! Please leave a review! A lot of this particular chapter was based on Avi's The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, which is one of the best novels I have read. This fic will not be taking the same course as Avi's work, but I'm using some of the scenes (such as the mast-climbing one) from it. The terminology also comes from the novel. I do not in any way own Naruto nor The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, but I'm a great fan of both! Do drop a review and point out my mistakes-it's my first time writing Naruto fiction!

-Ivy


	2. Discovery

Chapter Two: Discovery

What she felt at that moment could not be described in words. There he stood-proud, strong, and tall, arms crossed casually with his body leaning against the mast. He had grown handsomer-if that was possible-while still retaining some of his boyish features that had drawn Sakura to him at first. There was an air of mystery around him still, but then again, since when was there not one?

Brown eyes met hard onyx eyes, but she couldn't look away. It had been too long since she had last seen him-he left here there on that gloomy day, crying, taking a piece of her heart with him as he turned his back on Konoha.

_So this is why no one told us the actual name of the ship_, said Inner Sakura half sarcastically half mournfully. Both Sakura and her inner self knew that if they had known the name of the ship beforehand, they wouldn't have accepted the mission at all. When she realized that he wasn't coming back, she steeled her heart away from all thoughts of him. It hurt too much to think-to feel. She grew up that way, banishing everything that reminded her of him.

_Note to self. Kill Kakashi-sensei and punch Neji-kun without Tenten-chan knowing._

Lost in her thoughts, Sakura did not notice how he observed her carefully. There was something extremely familiar about this girl, but he just could not place a finger on it. Perhaps he knew her from somewhere? Konoha perhaps? No, there were few people he bothered to remember from that place where he once lived. Where was she from? Another one of Orochimaru's pawns? Unlikely-she seemed far too innocent. Then again, looks can be so deceiving.

Stealthily, he turned on his bloodline technique, which the ship was named after. Eyes widened as he noticed the increased amount of chakra around the hair and eyes. "She's using a concealment jutsu," he thought to himself as he looked for more clues as to who she really was.

"What's going on here?" came a voice from over the hubbub of the crowd that had gathered on deck, talking amongst themselves of the new recruit among other things. Silence immediately blanketed the once lively ship as everyone stopped what they were doing and froze.

A man with blood red eyes and raven hair emerged from the captain's cabin, dressed in an extremely high-collared black and red shirt and black pants. A ring adorned his right hand, which glistened in the sun as he ran his fingers through his shoulder-length hair.

Sakura felt a chill run down her spine as she saw who it was. Suddenly, her view of him was replaced with a blue shirt.

"Not a word, Yoshizumi."

"I demand an answer. Why are all of you just standing there gaping? I expect an answer," came the harsh voice of the man who had just made an appearance.

Still, no noise was heard.

"Sasuke." said the older man.

"Itachi."

"Tell me."

Sasuke stepped aside and pushed Sakura forward, one hand on her shoulder. Immediately, she felt a wave of chakra run through her, but did not show that she noticed the change.

"She's the new recruit-the medic-nin that you requested. She has passed the crew's test to climb to the royal yard."

_Hell yeah_, said Inner Sakura, pumping her fist into the air,_ We're soooo awesome, don't you think so, Sakura-chan? We sure showed them!_

"Quiet, you," thought Sakura, "we're in deep trouble-it's Itachi."

_Oh yeah…well, who cares about him anyway. Sasuke-kun's here! And we're gonna show him exactly what he's been missing!_

Sakura furrowed her brows. Her inner self really needed to learn how to shut up every once in a while, especially in serious situations like this one.

Itachi came down from the quarterdeck onto the deck where the other men were. Immediately, a path was made that led to where Sakura and Sasuke were standing. Sakura felt blood red eyes roam her face, as if searching for something. She felt quite naked beneath his gaze, but did not move at all.

_Freaking pervert, I'll punch him sky high and make sure that he'll NEVER have children_, yelled Inner Sakura, who was hugging herself, glaring daggers at the missing-nin. At that moment, Sakura felt like she could never agree with her inner self more.

"You'll do," was Itachi's reply after a few tense moments. "I am Captain Uchiha Itachi. The **boy **behind you is my younger brother, Sasuke. Kisame, Kabuto-come here."

Kabuto, who had led her onto the ship, emerged from the crowd first, followed closely by a man with a grayish-blue face and scary looking white eyes with black pupils. Itachi pointed to the latter.

"This is First Mate Kisame. That is Second Mate Kabuto. I expect you to address them properly. Do your job well, and you won't be killed."

The rest of the crew breathed a sigh of relief as his heavy footsteps traveled back up onto the quarterdeck and into the captain's cabin.

_Good Kami, he's scary._

"Get back to work. The captain wants to set sail immediately," commanded Kisame.

"Hai!" came a chorus of sailors, and they set about preparing the ship for departure. They scurried like mice up and down the ropes, cutting and tying and stretching to get the sails ready to catch the winds.

Sasuke's hand left her shoulder, and Sakura turned around, as if to ask him what she should do.

"Who are you." he stated, waiting impatiently for an answer. His sharingan was still turned on, boring deep into her eyes.

_Lie! Lie! Lie!_ screamed her inner self.

"Yoshizumi Nami, Sa-Uchiha-san."

_You slipped. Better pray that Sasuke-kun didn't notice._

Sasuke winced at the name. He hated being associated with that horrid traitorous brother of his. And what was she about to call him? His name? Perhaps…

"Just call me Sasuke. There are two Uchihas on this ship."

"Hai."

"I won't repeat myself," said Sasuke, firmly, alluding to his former question what was annunciated like a demand.

"Nor will I," was Sakura's confident reply.

"You have an increased amount of chakra flow around your eyes and your hair, Yoshizumi. Do not lie to me."

_I think this is the most Sasuke-kun's ever spoken to us at one time_, said Inner Sakura sarcastically.

"I am half blind, Sasuke-san. I require chakra to see properly."

"And you hair?"

_Think fast, Sakura! He's gonna suspect…!_

"Excuse me," came a voice from behind Sakura. The two turned to see who was addressing the new recruit. There stood a man wearing dark shades, hands in his pockets.

"Is that Shino?" Sakura thought as she eyed him critically.

"What do you want," Sasuke snapped, "I'm speaking to her."

"She needs to get acquainted with the ship, Sasuke, before we set sail."

"Hn."

With that, Sasuke walked off, leaving Sakura with the Shino look-alike.

"Come on."

Sakura followed the stranger back to the forecastle, where she was nearly knocked over the second she stepped across the threshold by another girl. She too, was extremely familiar, with long blonde hair tied back in a high pony tail and blue eyes.

"Forehead girl," she said with a smirk.

"Ino-pig!"

"Shhhh! Not so loud! Shino, get over here. Where's Shikamaru?"

"What! Shikamaru's here? What the hell is going on!" whispered Sakura fiercely, not comprehending her situation at all. There were too many questions running through her head at the moment, mainly why her friends from Konoha were here and how the hell Kakashi-sensei managed to convince her to take up this mission in the first place.

"Come on, let's go to the back. No one's in there right now."

Sakura followed her friends closely, and they settled in a corner of the forecastle behind Ino's hammock. It was dark, and there was no candle to light the way. Sakura could barely see her best friend and the bug…man.

"Ino-chan, when Itachi came out, I felt a wave of chakra flow through me from Sasuke-kun's hand. What's going on?"

"Sakura, Itachi's got the sharingan too, remember? If Sasuke-kun could detect your jutsu, then Itachi definitely will. He must have put more chakra into you to hide your increase of chakra around your eyes and hair."

"Oh."

"You're going to have to dye it for real, you know."

Sakura did not answer. Her hair! Her beloved pink hair! Inner Sakura was weeping and clutching her hair with an anguished expression on her face.

"You have some idea of the mission, don't you?" asked Ino quietly, looking at Sakura directly, who was still preoccupied with the idea of losing the color of her hair.

"Not really. Only that I have to kill the captain of this ship."

Ino glanced at Shino, who nodded at her inquisitive look. Sakura really didn't have any idea about anything that was happening at all. Perhaps it was for the best that they will be the ones to tell her. If she had known beforehand, she definitely would not have come.

"Sakura, you really don't know, do you…"

Fake brown eyes stared at determined blue eyes.

"We're supposed to help Sasuke-kun kill Itachi. The problem is that Sasuke-kun tried a few months ago with our help, and he failed."

"What!" came her strangled whisper.

"Yes, Sakura. You would think that Itachi-teme would kick him off the ship, but he didn't. He said something about keeping friends close and enemies closer. Sasuke-kun's not allowed to train anymore, and he was demoted from being First Mate to being a part of the crew."

"There's something else, isn't there?" replied the former rosette-haired girl, frowning at the idea that Ino was leaving something out of the story.

The blonde looked pensive for a moment before continuing.

"You know that Orochimaru's dead, don't you?"

"Yes. Tsudane-sama mentioned it about five years back," said Sakura, waiting for her friend to elaborate a little more.

"Well, it's just that…Sakura! Itachi's got a hold of Sasuke's mark! He reactivated the curse!"

"What!" exclaimed Sakura, only to have a hand slam onto her mouth, muffling the sound.

"Shut up, forehead-girl! Do you want to get caught! The crew here is made up almost entirely of Itachi's men and women! How we got in here in the first place is a miracle in itself!" came Ino's sharp whisper.

Sakura shook her head no, and Ino let go.

"While Itachi was fighting Sasuke-kun, he did something. It was raining, and I couldn't see clearly, but I think he touched the mark with his bloody fingers. Something happened, and Sasuke-kun went crazy. Those marks spread all over his body and he grew those creepy hand-like wings! He had power, all right, but Itachi still managed to defeat him."

"I don't understand, Ino-chan. Why would Itachi do that if he wanted to kill Sasuke-kun? Why would he want to reactivate the curse to give Sasuke-kun more power?"

"I don't understand it either. But Sakura, after the battle-when Shino, Shikamaru and I hauled him back into the forecastle-he was muttering your name over and over again."

Sakura was speechless. Inner Sakura was doing cartwheels, but Sakura herself was worried.

"So what do we do now? Does he know you're on board?"

"Yes, Sasuke knows. I'm not sure if we should tell him about you though," whispered Ino in a worried tone.

"Why?"

"He might…do something rash."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at the blonde's comment.

"He might spend his time worrying over you, Sakura-chan, and Itachi-teme will notice. He notices everything, especially when it involves his brother."

Sakura said nothing in response.

"Yo."

Shikamaru had joined the duo.

After a few moments, Sakura asked, "Why do you guys not need disguises?"

Shikamaru glanced at her. "Itachi has never seen us before, but he's seen you. He'll know that you've been sent to help Sasuke, and he'll kill you. Plus, disguises are too troublesome…"

"Then why send me at all?"

"Don't you understand, Sakura-chan?" asked Ino, grasping her hand, "You're the only one who has control over Sasuke-kun! You're the only one who can save him from Itachi!"

"What?"

"Sakura, the curse mark faded as soon as he started muttering your name. It completely disappeared. Don't you get it? When Sasuke-kun fights Itachi again, Itachi would probably activate the seal once more! We can't let that happen-Sasuke-kun will die! That curse-that curse messes with his mind! He barely pulled through the last time!"

Sakura's eyes flew up in shock.

"All hands on deck!" came a faint shout from outside. Shikamaru stood up, mumbling about something or other being troublesome, leaving the two girls alone.

"Let's go see what's going on," said Sakura with determination. She wasn't going to let Sasuke die by some bastard's hand.

After all, he was the man she loved with all her heart.

xxx

A/N: Haha-how many people thought Sasuke was the captain? XD I didn't know that Kin and the rest of Orochimaru's pawns had died, so I guess this fic is now semi-AU. Sorry about the mix-up; I haven't seen the whole series yet, so I'm afraid I'm extremely ignorant of what exactly is going on in the manga. Please feel free to correct me if I get something wrong, especially the characterization. I like to keep characters in-character and not OOC. It bothers me when they're OOC. Unfortunately, Sasuke has spoken more than he should, but he was faced by his brother, so I figured it would be okay…Hmmm…

I'm planning to put far more humor into this, but it's serious for now in order to develop the plot a little bit more. Sorry about the boring-ness of this chapter! Hopefully the next one will be a bit better. Please, if you do review-tell me if I have any plot holes. I'm still playing with different ideas for this fic, and I'm afraid that I might not have thought everything out completely. I won't take offense-don't worry:D

I'm trying to update every Saturday, so check back next Saturday! If there's no chapter up, it's because school has eaten up my life and killed me. Not really. I'm a senior in the IB program. Enough said. Whoever said senior year was the easiest out of the four years of high school should be punished and enrolled into the IB program. Then we'll see who's laughing and claiming that senior year's so bloody easy.

Bitter? Of course not! Do leave me a review-I can't improve if I don't know what's wrong! I try to respond to all the reviews I get, and thank you to everyone who is reading this! I really appreciate it!

-Ivy


	3. Seasickness

**Chapter Three: Seasickness**

"Yamanaka, Uchiha, Naru, Yoshizumi, Tsuchi, Akizuki, Shikimachi, Abumi, Kidaumaru, Kimimaro. Afternoon watch. Check the sails, scrub the deck, and make sure NOTHING goes wrong. You will be under second mate Kabuto-san. The rest of you will be under first mate Kisame-sama-off to the forecastle with you lot. You've got the next watch after Kabuto's team."

The crew scrambled back and forth as the port they had left became no more than a small dot in the distance before disappearing completely. As Sakura learned, on a ship, there were different watches, where a set of sailors were "on duty" and took care of everything that was necessary. That mean cleaning, cooking, cutting, tying, and all the other typical tasks that needed to be done aboard a ship.

There were seven watches in all, each one being from two to four hours long. The afternoon watch, which was the one Sakura had, lasted from noon to four. From four to six was the first dog watch, and from six to eight was the second dog watch. Night watch was from eight to midnight, which then became midwatch until four in the morning. That led to the morning watch, which ended at eight, and from eight to noon was the forenoon watch.

Each crew would alternate their watches, which was a good thing because to Sakura, staying up during those late hours would not be fun at all. The currently brown-haired girl sighed as she watched her crew members scramble around, climbing the ratlines nimbly.

Shaking her head slightly, she headed toward the waist of the ship between the foredeck and the quarterdeck. The gallery, also known as the kitchen in layman's terms, should have been located there. Her particular job on the ship was not only a medic, but also the cook. That seemed natural, mainly because she would have access to the stove, which could be needed in making the proper medicines to treat the pirates' wounds.

As she walked, she played with the ethics of her position. She was a medic, yes, someone whose job was to save other people's lives and make them comfortable. It was her duty.

"But then I'd be saving pirates," she thought to herself, "I'd be saving the people who want to kill innocents. Do I have that right-to heal them and perhaps cause the death of others? Do criminals deserve to be healed?"

She closed her eyes briefly, wishing that she had never boarded the ship. She had never doubted her position as a medic before, and she really shouldn't be now. Her mother had often told her that the second she started something, she would have no choice but to finish it.

It was ironic to Sakura the exact analogy her mother used.

"You've stepped into two boats, Sakura," her mother always said, "with one foot in one boat and the other foot in the other. If you try to leave one, you will fall into the water and drown. Naturally, you've got to stay on both if you want to survive."

A sigh escaped her chapped lips as she threaded her way into the gallery. It was a small kitchen, but it would do. Cabinets lined the walls, and there was a wood stove in the corner. Knives were placed in their proper places, and eating utensils complete with spoons, forks, chopsticks, plates, and glasses were all piled neatly together in one of the bottom cabinets. Pots and pans could be seen as well, hanging off one of the walls, drying. The bare necessities for cooking were all present, which was a small relief to the young woman, who was seriously worried about cooking with only knives.

"So I guess my stereotypes of pirates were wrong," she muttered under her breath as she went to explore the cabinets.

She found two cabinets filled with medicinal herbs and first aid materials, and a few empty ones that she could store some of her own medicines in. Canned food and ramen were piled high in four cabinets, and flour, sugar, rice, and other miscellaneous ingredients were in the remaining cabinet. Satisfied that she had a basic understanding of where everything was, Sakura left the kitchen to go find Ino. There were a few things that she still did not understand.

_It's kinda funny that these pirates don't seem all that barbaric_, said Inner Sakura, looking around in wonder, _It's not like those pirate stories they tell at home, you know? I seriously thought they all ate with knives!_

Sakura grinned slightly at her inner self. She often wondered how she could survive without that annoying yet extremely helpful alter ego of hers.

Green eyes spotted blonde hair weaving between the sails. Instantly recognizing it, she scrambled toward the ratlines of the mainmast.

That was when she felt her stomach flip upside-down.

The ship was bouncing along the waves quickly, making speed to wherever they were going. The horizon blended in with the ocean and reflected in Sakura's eyes.

She closed them. The constant rocking of the ship was definitely not doing her any good. She felt her face turn green and a small headache develop.

There is always that one feeling right before one throws up that's so distinctive. It's as if the acid was traveling against gravity up the esophagus and ready to burst, and keeping it down would only make things worse. It was that feeling that Sakura had now, which caused her to run to the nearest side of the ship and empty her lunch into the sea.

When she was finished, she turned around and leaned against the railing, catching her breath. So this was the dreaded sea-sickness that Kakashi-sensei warned her about. Ugh. She hated it.

_Kakashi-sensei must really want to see God_, said Inner Sakura, vein popping on her forehead, _He could have been slightly more descriptive, or at least give us a method to prevent it._

"Weakling."

Sakura quickly looked up from the wooden boards of the ship she was staring at. Big mistake. Instantly she felt queasy again, and she had to go back to what she was doing just moments before after catching a glimpse of the oh-so-familiar chicken-like hair.

Pale hands gripped the railing as she tried to think happy thoughts where her two feet were planted on land. Solid land. Land that would not move and cause her to lose her lunch.

Realizing her mistake from before, Sakura turned around slowly and calmly met onyx eyes.

* * *

A/N: A much better chapter three, don't you think:D This chapter and the next one are kinda short, mainly because I broke it into two chapters. doesn't seem to pick up on the fact that I update when I replace chapter contents or something. At least there's no giant cliffhanger, right? See the author's notes at the end of chapter four. Do leave a review, even though there's still another chapter-I would love it if you would. Thanks for reading! 


	4. Unfolding the Story

**Chapter Four: Unfolding the Story**

"Hello, Sasuke-san."

The honorific felt foreign to her tongue, which was so used to forming –kun after Sasuke's name. She wondered if he even noticed the difference-how metallic it sounded.

As usual, there was no emotion written on his face as he looked at her, as if measuring her up. Remembering how he had questioned her about her hair last time, she made an effort to regulate her chakra flow without changing her hair color back to pink. If there was one thing she refused to do, it would be to dye her hair brown.

Inner Sakura shuddered while holding and petting her hair. Her lovely pink hair would NEVER be touched by that horrible dye. Ech.

He glared at her. She looked back at him. She was used to his cold stares-perhaps too used to them. But sometimes, when they were younger, there was always something tender at the same time as he glared at her, almost as if he were doing so half-heartedly simply to keep up the image he had created for himself.

He turned around and walked away, occupying himself with something else. Sakura's heart constricted slightly-the last time he walked away from her, he didn't come back.

He still technically wasn't back. He was on this god-forsaken ship, not home in Konoha, where there was SOLID land and grass and green things.

Yes, green things, not blue things. Green things.

Just then, twenty-three-year-old Haruno Sakura realized how much she missed Rock Lee.

"Hey! Nami-chan!"

Sakura looked up and saw Ino waving at her. Smiling slightly, the medic-nin headed over the main mast, her original destination before taking a brief detour due to a cardiac sphincter malfunction, and climbed the ratlines to the trestletree, where her friend was perched.

"Hey Ino-chan," said Sakura, trying to get comfortable in the small space that was available.

"Did you find the gallery?" the blonde asked, blue eyes focusing on the other girl's face.

"Yeah. Everything's there, which is a relief. Everyone's had lunch already, right?"

"Think so," came Ino's reply, "if not, they'll have to live. We were supposed to eat before setting sail."

"Okay."

They drifted into silence, with Ino looking out at the sea and Sakura leaning back against the mast, thinking.

"Ino," she said, after a few minutes of pronounced silence, "why doesn't Kabuto recognize you and everyone else?"

Ino's face turned toward Sakura. "Kabuto never really took a close look at the rest of us at the exams. He was mostly with your team. Plus, when we came aboard, Sasuke secretly used his sharingan on him, which was powerful to make him forget us even if he did glimpse us. We probably looked familiar to him, but he should have doubted himself. After all, he's known us for a year now."

Another moment of silence passed before Sakura asked another question-one that was sitting on her mind for the past day.

"Why does Itachi keep Sasuke-kun here and not kill him? And why didn't Sasuke-kun leave even after he lost? And how did Sasuke and the rest of you get on the ship in the first place?"

A sigh escaped the blonde's lips. She was dreading to answer Sakura's question. She looked back out at the sea, not wanting to see her best friend's face as she related the story.

"He came back last year looking for you, Sakura-chan."

Green eyes flew to Ino's face. "What?" she whispered, not believing the words that were uttered.

"You were out on an A-ranked mission. He was living somewhere near the Hidden Stone Village, and as he stepped into town, he heard rumors that the Akitsuki had hijacked a ship and converted it into a pirate ship. Naturally, Sasuke wanted a way to board that ship as quickly as possible before Itachi-teme could escape his clutches again, so he left the market. But as he left, he heard the store manager say that they had captured a pretty pink-haired jounin and planed to sell her into the slave market. He ran back to Konoha looking for you. Scared the Godaime half to death when he burst into her office too."

"Ino, stop lying. I don't believe you."

Ino ignored her comment and kept going. "Tsunade-sama was about to kill him before he burst out that you were in danger. She stopped her attacks immediately, not only surprised at the fact that Sasuke-kun shouted, but also at the fact that you could have been hurt. I guess that was when she realized that Sasuke-kun was still human and that maybe you were the one who kept him that way. True, he betrayed Konoha, but he came back looking for you. Always only for you.

"She gathered a handful of us together, those who weren't overly recognizable and noted for specific traits and gave us this mission-to see if you were indeed kidnapped by Itachi. By the time we found the rumor to be false, Itachi had beaten Sasuke. It was lucky that Itachi-teme didn't suspect that we were with Sasuke. We would have been killed. The Godaime sent us separately and from different places. She had gotten together with the leaders of the other villages and explained the situation. All the villages would be affected if the Akitsuki were allowed to stay as pirates, so they allowed us to bear their forehead protectors. They made out our criminal records and how we were all missing-nin and attributed many horrible crimes to us. When we showed up at the port in the Water Village, our names had been circulated long enough for him to recognize us. We were tested-Itachi and Kisame fought us-and he found us acceptable. Sasuke-kun was in disguise, naturally, with his curse mark bandaged so that no one could see it."

Ino took a long breath, pausing her story slightly, letting the information she released set in. She began again after a little while, crossing her arms over her chest and closing her eyes.

"We spent about a week searching through everything for you. It was hard, especially since we had to do it surreptitiously without anyone noticing. That's why it took so long. Shino's bugs really helped to speed up the process. When we couldn't find a single hair of yours anywhere on the ship, we were relieved that it was a rumor. It was then that Sasuke had confronted Itachi-teme. They fought-I already told you that much-and Sasuke lost."

Sakura was near speechlessness when Ino paused again. The newcomer took that moment to ask one part of her question again.

"Why are you guys still here then?"

Again, a sigh escaped from Ino's dry lips, which were tired of talking, as blue eyes opened and set themselves on the patched whites of the sails. "When Itachi-teme touched the cursed seal, Sasuke was bound to this ship. Sasuke-kun can't walk more than ten kilometers away from the ship without feeling an excruciating amount of pain that's powerful enough to kill him. Believe me, he tried. He didn't wake up for a week after that. What I still don't understand is why his brother didn't kill him, knowing that he was still the stronger brother."

"Is there a way to break the curse, Ino?" Sakura asked with a pleading voice, "There has to be, right?"

Ino's eyes closed in desperation.

"I don't know, Sakura, I really don't know."

* * *

A/N: Sorry it's short, but again, I wrote this chapter and chapter three together and had to find a nice spot to cut, so yeah. Does the plot line make a little more sense now? No real action yet (look for that in the next few chapters). If you would like to see something in this fic, please leave a review with what you would like to see. I am, unfortunately, not a mind reader, and I only have a very very very (times one billion) vague idea of how I want this story to go, which means that I can add things in very easily. In other simpler words: writer's block. Haha. I know how I want to end this, and I would like to say that there will definitely be some sword fighting (:grins:) but other than that, some guidance would be appreciated. I'm trying to keep everyone in character, so as much as I wish Sasuke would go all lovey-dovey on Sakura, I can't make him that way. His character is very rigid, and it's difficult to mold in such a way that romance can happen, so I'm really sorry about the lack of romance right now. :( It should pick up soon though. Thanks for reading!

-Ivy


	5. Silly Romance Novels

Chapter Five: Silly Romance Novels

Days passed, one after another, and Haruno Sakura was bored. B-O-R-E-D. Bored. She was rarely ever this way, having grown up in a family that practiced the philosophy that if you're bored, you must be a very boring person.

At the moment, the once pink-haired girl felt like the most boring person on the face of the universe. Her crew was off watch for the next four hours, which meant that she could technically do whatever she wanted. She didn't feel like sleeping, which was an amazing fact in and of itself because she loved sleep. As a ninja, it was one of the luxuries she indulged herself with when she was off-duty. Somehow, sleeping until midday had this forbidden sweet quality to it, and it felt terribly good.

Once again, she ran through her list of medicines in her head as well as the different names for the bones in the human body. There were about 206 bones in the body, depending on person to person. There were at least forty or so in the skull-she always got a kick out of saying those foreign names for the bones and memorizing where they were in the body. Like the vomer, for instance, which was at the end of the nose-they were funny foreign names, but cool names just the same.

To say she was restless would be an understatement. Sighing, she got out of her hammock and went to look through her small trunk for something-anything-to do. She sifted through a few articles of clothing and came across her secret stash of books and scrolls complete with romance novels, medicine journals, how-to books, and a few science fiction novels. Smiling a secret smile, she took out a romance novel that had been stripped of its cover because of the embarrassing picture on the front. Giggling to herself, she walked out of the forecastle clutching the book and headed to the foremast, where she climbed until she reached the junction between the foremast and the foresail. It was relatively lower than the other sails, but high enough above the deck to give her privacy without the seasickness.

She sighed as she settled into the little niche she had found and read indulgently. As a ninja, she had very little time or space in her life for a man, so reading romance novels that weren't quite as graphic as Kakashi-sensei's notorious _Icha Icha Paradise_ was a rather relaxing past time for her. Most ninjas were married or were at least getting married at her age. Ino had told her just yesterday that she and Shikamaru planned to get married after this mission was over. Neji and Tenten had been married for two years and were expecting their first child, and last she heard, Naruto and Hinata were going to be married in the fall, which was just months away.

What she loved most about those romance novels was probably the fact that they were so perfect-it was always the idealized woman who got the man she wanted. They were sweet, cute, and fluffy-everything that was never a big part in her own life. Reading "trashy" novels like the one she had in her hand was an escape into a reality that could never be her own-the man she loved was obsessed with the death of his brother (which was pretty psychotic to her) and all the other men in her village were definitely not her ideal men.

Her ideal man was currently somewhere on the _Sharingan_, doing something she didn't know about, as usual.

_You know what I don't understand?_ Asked Inner Sakura, scowling at the pages Sakura was reading.

"What," asked Sakura mentally to her bombastic inner self.

_Why is it that girls are described as gems while boys are described as food? For example, that bloody author of this ridiculously quixotic romance novel used sapphires to describe the protagonist's eyes and rubies to describe her lips. I don't know about you, Sakura, but personally, I think it would be extremely uncomfortable to have rocks for lips. How can you possible eat?_

Sakura laughed merrily. She herself would be indeed miserable without being able to eat. She loved food-a trait she picked up from eating ramen with Naruto all the time-and would not be able to live without food. Now that she thought of it, she was kind of hungry…

_Better watch yourself, _Inner Sakura said with an evil glint in her eyes, _wouldn't want Ino making fun of your waistline now, would you? I mean, I'm pretty sure you've gained another inch-_

"Shut up!"

A few pairs of eyes trained themselves on her from the deck as their owners heard her rather loud shout. Sakura blushed and ducked her head behind her book once more. Oh the curses of having an alter ego.

Her embarrassment caused her to totally neglect the fact that there was someone standing on the beam of the foresail next to her. Moments later, she saw the deck instead of the print of her romance novel. In horror, she looked up slowly, only to find a familiar crop of raven hair and onyx eyes.

Oh, there she went again, describing her Sasuke-kun with rocks. She must have been going insane. She said a quick prayer to Kami-sama that she would never become an author.

Her face flushed a dark pink color as she watched his eyes skim over the page. What would he think of her now? Would he look down on her for reading…dare she say it…trash that was incredibly similar to the accursed _Icha Icha Paradise_?

Inner Sakura was currently tugging at her hair and burying her face in pillows while slamming her fist down on whatever she could find. The outer Sakura, however, sadly did not have that luxury.

Sasuke lifted his eyes from the page and coolly raised his right eyebrow.

"You read this crap?" he asked in his usual monotone voice.

Inner Sakura bounced back at his comment. He dare insult her books! Blasphemy!

"What do you mean, 'crap?'" snapped Sakura, suddenly deciding to act on her inner self's desires, "it's a good book!"

"And she closed her eyes, hiding sapphire gems, ruby red lips parted and raven black hair was splayed around the pillow, contrasting milky-white skin-" he read, eyes glancing at her form to watch her reaction.

Sakura winced. "Point taken," she muttered, snatching the book back from him while blushing like a red tomato.

"A ninja shouldn't be wasting time on such things."

"You should mind your own business."

"You should learn when to shut up."

"You started it."

"Hn."

He stood there balancing on the beam, looking down at her. Unable to stand that he was looking down his nose at her, she stood up quickly.

Fate then decided to intervene, laughing at the two former teammates. She made the ship plunge into a wave, pitching its crew members around this way and that.

And of course, the incredibly cliché accidental event often found in those innocuous-looking little romance novels happened:

Haruno Sakura was thrown into an unsuspecting Uchiha Sasuke, whose arms instinctively folded themselves around her as he concentrated his chakra down to his feet in an effort to keep both of them upright.

And in an attempt to keep with the o-so-cliché storyline in romance novels, as the ship settled down again, Sakura had discovered that his arms had wrapped themselves slightly too high on her body and were currently resting where they really should not have been resting.

A vein popped on her forehead when she noticed, which was when Sasuke noticed as well. He withdrew his arms quickly, cheeks showing a slight pink color.

Seeing his embarrassment did not help Sakura's anger. No one-not even him-was allowed to touch her there! She drew back her fist and punched him with her inhuman strength straight into the deck.

"DID YOU WANT TO SEE GOD!"

* * *

Itachi smirked as he watched his foolish little brother fall down into the deck because of that new recruit's punch. It amused him to see that Sasuke was getting thrown around by some mere girl who grew up as a fisherman's daughter.

"Perhaps you will soon see why I did what I did, my foolish little brother," he said softly under his breath, mouth turned upward in a smirk.

He put a hand to the glass that separated him inside his cabin to the outside. With a finger, he traced the outline of his younger brother, who was currently lying on the deck with a giant bump on his head. Itachi was quite surprised that Sasuke had not gone _through_ the deck with the power of the petite girl's punch.

The older man allowed himself a small smile as he watched the brown-haired kunoichi jump down thirty feet to see if his brother was alive.

"Maybe she'll be the one who'll make him understand," he thought as he turned his eyes away from the two, going back to his desk to plan for the next plundering mission they were to undertake.

After all, they were pirates.

Pirates without a real home to go back to.

* * *

"Look, I'm _sorry_, okay? Just quit being so freaking silent!" said Sakura in an exasperated voice. As much as she loved Sasuke, sometimes she really wanted to strangle him. He had the worst way to send people on guilt trips-him being completely silent while glaring at her was definitely a great way to send her off on an extremely long vacation to guiltland.

They were currently in the gallery of the ship where Sakura kept most of her medicinal supplies. Sasuke had escaped with a huge bump on the head, minor scars (if seven-inch cuts were considered little), and a few bruises and splinters here and there (more like everywhere, but that's beside the point). She was gingerly pulling out the splinters from his face and arms with a pair of sterilized splinters and healing them with small spurts of chakra. She was obviously not thinking when she punched her Sasuke-kun into the deck below.

"So…annoying," she heard him mutter under his breath. For good measure, she was extra vicious with a particular splinter, eliciting a small grunt of pain as she lifted it out. She smiled angelically as he glared at her, knowing that she had done it on purpose.

Sakura hummed as she worked, lightly touching Sasuke's skin as she healed him slowly. She could have gone a lot faster, yes, but she didn't really feel like it. She had not seen Sasuke for slightly under a decade, and in all honesty, that was too long a time to not see his handsome face. Spending time with him in silence was better than not spending any time with him at all.

As she took care of the wounds she had inflicted upon him, Sasuke drifted into his own thoughts. Why was this girl so familiar? Why did she have to be so similar to _her_, the girl-no, the woman-he had tried so hard to forget? Just as he was wiping his mind of that constantly smiling girl he left behind nine years ago, Fate decided to laugh at him and shove another girl so similar to her in his face. Yoshizumi Nami or whatever her name is was uncannily similar to Haruno Sakura, the girl who plagued his thoughts as he laid down in his hammock to rest. She had a slightly lower voice than Sakura, yes, but they spoke the same way and used the same phrases. The fact that she yelled "did you want to see God!" at him as he fell to the deck caught him by surprising, thus causing him to fall so hard onto the deck when normally, he would have simply flipped himself and landed gracefully as usual. Her brown eyes held the same twinkle as those bright green ones once did, and now, her soft touch was so reminiscent of the touches he received when he was a genin.

Confusion clouded his brain as he glared at her from under his eyelids. What right did she have to impersonate his Sakura?  
"My Sakura?" he thought, "Since when was she ever mine in the first place?"

His turmoil did not go unnoticed by Sakura, who was watching him just as carefully as he was watching her. She was currently healing his larger cuts now, having made sure that all the splinters were out. She wondered if he had caught on, especially with her carelessness at her own choice of words. When they were in Konoha together, she always used that phrase, usually after Naruto did something stupid. A small smile graced her lips as she remembered at the little jokes she would play on her friends. Perhaps the innocent flower-sending she did around Valentine's Day three years ago was the best prank she had ever played.

"What are you so happy about, Yoshizumi," snapped Sasuke, annoyed that his fellow crewmember was so lighthearted while he was suffering pain by her hand. Nevermind the soft touches that were so familiar, those cuts and bruises still damn hurt. It was all her fault too-why did she get to be so carefree?

"Nothing, Sasuke-san."

He glared at her again, indicating that he wanted an answer. She sighed, only to smile again at the thought. The chicken-haired man quickly noted how her eyes gleamed with mischief like Sakura's once did when she did something devious that would give everyone a good laugh.

"Oh, it's nothing really. Just a small prank I played on my friends a few years back."

He sat in silence as she went on, thoughtlessly continuing to heal his rather scratched up body.

"It was getting really close to Valentine's Day, and I had this ridiculously stubborn pair of friends who just would not and could not admit that they liked each other. So I decided to stop by a flower shop and buy flowers for them and switched their names. Oh, that didn't make much sense…"

She drifted off, lost in her own memory. She had walked into Ino's flower shop with that distinctive look in her eyes, and Ino had caught on immediately. The two partners in crime picked out a dozen red roses and split them in half. She remember being so proud of her evil plot as she signed "Love, Naruto" on a sappy Valentine's Day card addressed to Hinata that would be attached to half a dozen roses. Ino grinned too as she wrote "Love, Hinata" on a similar card addressed to Naruto. Needless to say, the two friends were found out soon enough, but only after their poor victims had finally gotten together.

Sasuke was annoyed that she did not elaborate on her story, but he didn't feel like speaking anymore. It was too troublesome.

He groaned mentally. He was obviously spending too much time with Shikamaru.

A sudden wave of pain suddenly overcame him, jerking him out of his stupor.

"Hey, woman, what the hall are you doing?" he snapped at her, angry that what she was doing actually hurt.

It was then that he saw _that_ overly familiar homemade ointment in her hand especially made for bruises. His eyes traveled up to her face, and he forced himself not to cringe as he saw that impish glint in her eyes.

He was definitely going to be up with a night of pain.

"Oh, this Sasuke-san? It's for your bruises-it works wonders, you know."

Sasuke grunted, training his mind and biting his tongue so that he would not scream as her nimble fingers pressed themselves into his bruises, coated in the foul-smelling and pain-causing ointment.

Naturally, the fact that only Sakura knew how to make such a devious ointment slipped his usually sharp mind.

* * *

A/N: Hehe! How was that for fluff:D It's very difficult to write fluff with Sasuke in character, but I tried! I hope I did alright!

I'm planning on rewriting chapter four again-same story line, just as a flashback though. It would allow for more details and everything, but I've been really busy lately. February is always hell month for me and the rest of those in IB. Seniors should know-those accursed IAs are due soon. My Latin one and my history one are due Monday and Tuesday (respectively) next week, so wish me luck as I hastily peruse through books to get everything done:) Please leave a review-it'd make me feel a whole lot better…

And now onto review responses! Aren't you excited! These will only be for chapter four-I'll be re-updating the other chapters later with review responses as well. Thank you all for being so patient!

Much love!

-Ivy

* * *

**Seguha:** Hope you liked this chapter :)

**Animemistress419:** Thanks!

**December Jewel:** (amused) Yay for pirates! Sorry about there not being too much action lately, but I'm trying to develop the plot a little before setting it all into motion. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

**Kurenai Chinoumi:** Haha-thanks!

**Queen Cow and Steak:** Did I ever mention how much I love your pen name? It's hilarious! I love it! As I read more Naruto fics, I'm really starting to like Ino's character more and more, especially when she's paired up with Shikamaru. I'm not really sure why-maybe she just reminds me of myself! Haha :) I hope you liked this chapter-thank you for reviewing all the time!

**Silvercage:** Glad you liked it! I actually never thought of it before-it was a massive plot hole that I needed to get around. I'm happy that it didn't seem too awkward. Now I have to find a way to get that curse off him…(sighs) and shakes head: Oh the woes of plot holes. (sob) Thank you for being such a faithful reviewer! I think you've seriously reviewed every chapter! Cookies!

**Ennariel:** True, I've never seen Sasuke not suspicious. That's just part of his character, I suppose. Thanks for reviewing!


	6. A Plan Uncovered

**Chapter Six: A Plan Uncovered**

"All hands on deck!" came the overly familiar shout of Kabuto. Grumbling, Ino rubbed away the sleep from her eyes as she swung her legs out of the hammock, which really was not too smart. She must have forgotten that she was on a ship in the first place and that physics existed. The hammock tipped her over because her weight was concentrated on one side of the hammock, causing her to fall hard into Shikamaru's waiting arms.

"How troublesome," came the rich baritone voice as he righted his fiancé, carefully setting her back onto her feet. She shot him a quick smile of thanks before taking his hand and dragging him out of the forecastle onto the deck. She really did not want to hear Kisame's "being late" lecture and be punished with doing extra work (like cleaning the latrines) on the ship.

The deck was already crowded with their crew mates, wondering what was going on. Perhaps they would be attacking another merchant ship? It had been a week already on the _Sharingan_, and they had not taken any particular action. The men (and women) were getting rather antsy at this inaction and were often found sharpening their weapons and practicing rather interesting jutsus on one another.

The blonde let her eyes sweep over the crowd, looking for a particular brunette and a chicken-haired man. She let out a soft giggle as she wound her arms around one of Shikamaru's, thinking of how she had found the two in the gallery. If that wasn't a Kodak moment, she didn't know what was. Sasuke had the funniest look on his face-he seemed rather terrified of Sakura and her oh-so-special healing ointment.

She suddenly stopped herself mid-giggle as realization dawned upon her. Only Sakura knew how to make that balm-she had developed it over the years as a genin and often used it on Sasuke and Naruto when they got hurt. Surely Sasuke would not overlook that fact, would he? He certainly didn't overlook her and Shikamaru's rather clandestine relationship-how could he overlook such a blatant hint?

"Don't worry about it, Ino. It's too troublesome," said Shikamaru, removing his arm from her grasp while seeming to read her mind. Ino sighed and shook her head, waiting for that bastard Kisame to start talking.

That was when she noticed that Sakura was standing rather close to Mr. bug-man as said bug-man whispered in her ear.

That was when she also noticed the infamous Uchiha glare being directed toward the poor bug man, who was completely oblivious.

Ino clamped her hand over her mouth to stop from giggling. The great Uchiha Sasuke-_jealous_! What has the world come to!

Shikamaru shook his head, muttering his characteristic phrase under his breath as he looked at what his fiancé was giggling at. Really, what was it about jealousy and love and all that other stuff that would make women melt into a giggling mass? He rolled his eyes and stuck his hands in his pockets, waiting for Kisame to speak. At the moment, he was quite annoyed that this rather drawn-out meeting was cutting into his cloud-watching time.

Like Shikamaru, Sasuke was annoyed as well, but for a very different reason. Shino-one of the men he had grown up with, seemed to be speaking quite intimately with a certain brown-haired fellow pirate. The bug-obsessed man was currently slightly bent, whispering something into her ear that caused her to giggle softly, brown eyes sparkling with happiness.

He unconsciously clenched and unclenched his fists. Anger rose up within him as he observed the two of them, who seemed to be in their own little world. He hardly ever heard Shino speak unless it was about the mission, and to see him _joking_ or whatever he was doing with Yoshizumi Nami infuriated him beyond belief.

A soft voice in his mind kept repeating: "you're jealous…you're jealous…you're jealous…" like a mantra, but naturally, he ignored that voice.

He really didn't like the fact that there was another voice in his head beside his own that was telling him things that he would always scoff at. After all, hearing voices was the first sign of insanity.

Or the first sign of feelings that he had no wish to explore, but that's not the point…

"Attention."

All chatter stopped as the crew adjusted their attention to the three men on the forecastle deck. It was the second time that Uchiha Itachi had addressed the crew, so it must be rather important. On either side of the traitorous man were Kabuto and Kisame, both of whom were dressed in black.

"As you all know," said the elder Uchiha in a quiet voice, "we have been very inactive for the past week. I assure you that the wait was for naught-there is a merchant ship about twenty knots away containing some rather…priceless goods that would benefit us greatly. If we increase our speed, we should be able to catch up with them within the next two days. Failure is not acceptable-you should know this by now."

Itachi's red eyes swept over the crowd, reading his crew's expressions. Most looked eager to finally pull out their weapons and fight for real, while others seemed rather passive. His gaze fell upon his younger brother, who had his hands in his pocket and was glaring at something to his right.

Smirking slightly as he identified exactly what-or rather who-his foolish little brother was glaring at, he continued to speak.

"You should know that there are certain people who must not be injured in any way on this merchant ship called _Maid of the Mist_ from the Hidden Mist Village. Their pictures will be posted inside the forecastle-be sure all of you get a good look and memorize their faces. You will take them as hostages, and we will deliver them to Water Country, where we will receive our payment. Understood?"

A loud "yes, Captain Itachi-sama" was heard from all around the ship, and the dark-haired man left. Kisame immediately began rattling off orders in order to increase the speed of the ship, and the crew scrambled to obey them.

Sakura was not exempt from the orders, even with her position as a medic-nin. Lithely, she scampered up the ratlines toward the trysail, where she was to tie everything down securely. Afterwards, she was ordered to continue climbing until she reached the main top-gallant sail, where she was to again tie everything down. The idea was to allow the sails to open up completely so that they could catch the wind, thus causing the ship to move faster across the waters of the ocean.

As she worked, she did not notice that a certain pair of obsidian eyes was watching her. Her mind was concentrating on sending chakra to her feet while maintaining the brown color in her hair and eyes. It was a rather difficult feat-to segregate enough chakra into three completely separate places in the body-and it took quite a lot of will power to maintain it. Her petite body was not meant to generate a great mass of chakra like Sasuke's or Naruto's, and as a result, she was doing all she could to produce as much as she could.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was quite frustrated. He was given a relatively simple task-to open up sails with some of his chakra on the main mast. This allowed him to be completely aware of what was going on around him, especially a certain brown-haired woman who was currently tying down sails.

He narrowed his eyes. She was hiding something-that much he could tell. She never did tell him why there was a great amount of chakra flowing into her hair, and he honestly doubted that she was telling the truth when she said that she was half-blind and needed the chakra to see. There was something so familiar about her, but he simply could not place his finger on what it was. Perhaps it was her use of language or maybe the way she carried herself around the ship…he didn't know, and it bothered him mainly because he was frustrated over something as stupid as the familiarity of a _female_.

When he finished his task, he sat along the beams of the upper main-topsail, watching Nami. He watched how her braid swung to and fro in rhythm with the soft bouncing of the ship along the waves. He watched her hands nimbly tie down the sails with strong knots fused with a tiny amount of chakra to ensure their strength. He watched how she bit her bottom lip as she concentrated on her task, eyebrows furrowed perhaps in deep thought.

A wave of disgust suddenly overcame him.

He was Uchiha Sasuke.

He did _not_ watch women work like some love-sick boy.

Scowling, he clambered down the main mast without the help of ratlines and landed with a flip on the deck. Slipping his hands into his pockets, he headed to the forecastle. It wasn't his watch, so after finishing his task, he had every right to return to what he was doing before.

He stopped at the door of the forecastle, looking at the pictures posted on it. There were three of them, all female and very rich-looking. Two possessed bright red hair and clear green eyes-he assumed that they were identical twins, since they looked exactly alike. Either that, or Itachi decided to be stupid and post two pictures of one girl, but he honestly doubted that.The raven-haired man let his eyes fall on the last picture, and his breath was caught in his throat.

There she was, sitting prettily on a swing, pink hair flying into different directions and twinkling green eyes sparkling with happiness. He felt his heart clench at the sight of the handwriting at the bottom of the picture, confirming his suspicion.

_Haruno Sakura-age 23. Konoha._

Those words written in a thick, black ink stared back at him tauntingly. He shook his head, and opened the door. Haruno Sakura? On a merchant ship?

What was she doing there anyway?

And how long ago was it when he last saw her?

"If only, if only, if only," came that soft voice in the back of his mind. Sasuke ignored it. Stupid conscience.

As he neared the back of the forecastle, he heard two soft taps followed by 5 nearly inaudible slaps on the wooden floor. Recognizing the code, he made his way toward Ino's hammock and slid under it, where he was met with the faces of the blonde, the genius, and the bug-lover.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun," said Ino quietly. Sasuke nodded his head and sat down Indian-style, waiting for the others to speak. Much to his annoyance, it was Shino who began.

"My bugs have informed me of what was to happen," he stated in a monotonous voice, "The hostages will be transported to Water Country and sold to a man by the name of Hizaki Raidon. He is a notorious slave trader, and he is willing to pay billions for the acquisition of the three girls, most likely because he can set a ransom for them. All the girls come from wealthy backgrounds-it would be quite easy for him to gain back all he paid for," said Shino, much to the amazement of his three partners. Since when did Shino say more than a short sentence at a time?

"The Haruno family is a wealthy family," said Ino quietly, anticipating Sasuke's question as to why Sakura's picture was posted, "They were not originally from Konoha. I've heard rumors of them actually being a gypsy clan who possessed different gifts. Some could see the future, others could perform miracles…their skills are very valuable. What I don't understand, though, is why Itachi won't sell the hostages himself if he wanted money"

It was Shikamaru who answered her question, quickly figuring out Itachi's plan.

"Although Hizaki Raidon is most well known as a slave trader in the Underground, he also possesses a variety of forbidden scrolls. I would assume that along with paying Itachi, he would also be handing over a few of those scrolls as well…"

Sasuke nodded, understanding the lazy genius. That would make sense-Itachi was always testing his strength, and in obtaining more scrolls (especially the forbidden ones), he would keep getting stronger and stronger. He also never knew about Sakura's background, but Ino's rapid response bothered him. How could she have known what he was going to ask? The raven-haired man moved to leave, and no one stopped him. It seemed as if for him, the meeting was over.

When they heard Sasuke's retreating footsteps and the familiar closing of the forecastle door, the remaining trio breathed a sigh of relief. They had hoped that he would not ask many questions about Sakura, since they themselves were slightly in the dark about the whole fiasco. Never in their lives would they have thought that such a situation would arise. They had talked to the real Sakura earlier, right after they saw the pictures. The four of them came to the agreement that they would play along and discover the true identity of the doppelganger before revealing everything to the aloof ninja. He had enough on his mind anyway…

While Ino, Shikamaru and Shino stayed inside the cool cabin, Sasuke was lost in his confusion. He was almost sure that the woman named Yoshizumi Nami was Sakura disguised-there was no way that anyone else could have had his former teammate's personality traits. He had observed her talking quietly to herself, just as Sakura used to do, and the way she treated his wounds was so familiar that it almost made him homesick.

Almost, however, was the keyword there.

Now someone by the name of Haruno Sakura was about to come aboard. That made his entire theory on why Yoshizumi seemed to be hiding something invalid. If Yoshizumi was Sakura, then who was the woman in the picture? If the woman in the picture was Sakura, then what was the brown-haired girl hiding?

Sasuke grunted in annoyance as he shoved his hands in his pockets. This was the first time in a long time where he became confused. Not confused about his mission, but confused in the matters of the heart.

After all, he got himself into this whole situation because of a certain rosette-haired girl with a wide grin and pretty green eyes.

* * *

If there was one misconception many people have about ships, it would be that the sails are light and airy, scooping up the winds in order to move the ship forward. In reality, however, those sails are made from a very heavy canvas, and when just one of those sails get tangled up on a spar, it must be pulled free or else it can tear or burst, often bringing down rigging, other spars, and even an entire mast. A sail that is out of control can whip around in the wind, usually shoving sailors overboard or injuring them heavily.

What was just described above happened the next day as the _Sharingan_ was on course to intercept the merchant ship. After seeing the flying jib become entangled in a nearby spar, Itachi quickly shouted, "Yoshizumi, fix it!"

Sasuke, for some odd reason, quickly replied that he would do it, but Itachi simply smirked and shook his head.

"I ordered Yoshizumi to fix it, not you, my dear foolish little brother. After all, she is expendable…you, however, are not…"

Sasuke glared at his older brother in anger-he would dare assign such a dangerous task to a _newbie_! Nevermind that perhaps in the deepest part of his heart Sasuke _might_ have cared for the false brown-haired girl, but really, it was quite unacceptable.

The flying jib was set at the furthest point of the bowspirit-in fact, it was set at the very top of it. Considering that the _Sharingan_ was moving at approximately three knots with the bow forever rising and falling, it was obvious that a broken jib would easily dip into the sea itself, thus causing the bowspirit to snap in half. The bowspirit was a crucial part of a ship because it provides the anchor for the forestays, which allows the foremast to be stepped further forward on the hull. As a result, the flailing sail must be quickly fixed, perhaps at the price of a sailor's life.

Sakura stood up bravely and climbed up the steps leading from the main deck onto the forecastle deck. There, she proceeded to climb onto the forepeak, which led to the bowspirit itself.

"Nami-chan," came a voice. Sakura stopped and look behind her, seeing Ino with her hands clapped together in fright. Sakura gave her old childhood friend a confident smile, even going so far as to flashing a peace sign. As she turned back around to complete her assigned task, she heard the low baritone voice of Shikamaru.

"Don't mess with the sail itself. Just cut the rope, and the sail will free itself. Cut sharp, then swing under the bowspirit in one quick jump, or the sail will toss you in."

Sakura nodded, pleased that she had some advice to go on. Taking a deep breath and feeling as if she were walking the plank, she continued.

"Time youself, Yoshizumi," she heard as she inched along, "If the ship plunges, the sea will grab you and you'll drown."

She concentrated her chakra to her feet, knowing that it was just enough to allow her to keep her balance. The sea, no matter how much chakra she could generate to her feet, could easily swallow her whole.

Finally, after what seemed to be eternity, Sakura reached the flying jib. Carefully taking a kunai out of one of the pockets in her cargo pants, she tried to forget how vulnerable she was at the moment-one hand holding onto the backline while the other was grasping a sharpened kunai.

Swiftly, she leaned forward and began to cut the taught rope. When the rope finally snapped, Sakura lost control of the weapon, and it sprung from her grasp. Acting from her trained reflexes as a ninja, she sprung forward to grab hold of the weapon, but the bowspirit chose that moment to plunge, leaving the twenty-three-year-old woman hanging off the bowspirit by her hands, feet dangling less than a meter above the sea.

* * *

A/N: Yay! Extra long chapter for an extra long wait! Please don't kill me for the cliffhanger…I just felt that it seemed to be an appropriate place to stop. That, and my fingers are freezing because there is currently no heat in my house (sob). I'm very happy with the way the story's going-writer's block, begone:D I would like to mention right now that the flying jib scene is not from my brain-it is from the great Avi's brain who wrote The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. You may remember that I got the idea for this fic from the book, so yeah. There are only two scenes from the novel that I will use in this fic, and this was one of them. You'll have to wait for the other one! Again, I don't own the brilliant novel The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, and thus fic is only _loosely_ based on it. The story line is completely different, but I'm just very fond of the two scenes that I am/will be using. You'll see why later. :P

Also, if you are not familiar with the parts of the ship I'm referring to, click on these two links (or copy and paste onto the URL bar thingy). The first link shows the different decks and stuff of the ship while the second link shows the different sails. Hope it helps some!

http/www.nmm.ac.uk/mag/shared/images/shipviewsdiagram.jpg

http/www.nmm.ac.uk/mag/shared/images/shipsailsdiagram.jpg

For further clarification on the terms (such as spar, knots, and bowspirit), go to (which is the most awesome thing _ever_) and type in "ship" or "knots." The "ship" will take you to a page where you can find a glossary, and the "knots" will tell you exactly how the whole ship speed thing works. :)

As you may have read in my profile, all of my internal assessments for IB are finished. My oral commentary was a passage from The Bell Jar, right when Esther takes sleeping pills in an effort to kill herself. That was a miracle in itself, because I'm not particularly fond of the book but managed to reread it last Saturday (and neglecting to update) so I knew what I was talking about. Score! Thank God I didn't have to do Hamlet or Mill on the Floss. I think I could have managed the John Donne poems, but whatever. It's all over and done with. Yay! Now…as for IB exams in May coupled with AP exams…let's not talk about that. ;)

Thank you all so much for keeping up with this story and actually _leaving reviews_! I had a record of _sixteen_ reviews for chapter five! I was SO ECSTATIC when I saw them-all of them had some criticism in it and weren't just "hey, please update." You guys are _the absolute best_ and I could not ask for better readers. Cookies for everyone!

* * *

**Seguha**: Thanks:)

**Zuan**: Haha-thank you! He's being a bit dense right now, but he's at least recognizing that she's familiar!

**Els1321**: I love romance novels too! They make me really happy, because they're so _perfect_. Maybe that's why people read them-it usually ends with happily ever after, which in the real world, isn't always possible. I suppose most people are secretly quixotic, ne? I know I am. :P

**Animemistress419**: I love fluff! Hope you liked this chapter!

**Kawaii-Kme**: I think that was my favorite part in chapter five-Sakura punching Sasuke. It's something that I can see her doing, and I was laughing the entire time I was writing it. I'm glad you liked it too!

**Someone**: Nice name! ;) Don't worry, Sakura's hair did not go bye-bye. She's concentrating chakra there to make it seem brown. It's still pink and not dyed-don't worry! Hope I cleared that up some! This is very important for later in the story, but I'm not going to tell you why:P I'm glad you thought Sasuke was in character. He's so hard to characterize well in a love story! Happy reading!

**Sillymail**: Cute name! Hehe! Thanks for reading!

**Kurenai Chinoumi**: Thanks! Hope you liked this chapter! I love Sakura's infamous bruise medicine. It makes me happy! XD

**Hinako89**: I'm glad you liked it! Hope you liked this chapter too!

**Silvercage**: Yes! Cookies! Your wit amuses me greatly-indeed, the raising of an eyebrow would probably too much emotion for our dear Sasuke-kun to handle. ;P

**Queen Cow and Steak**: This chapter didn't have too much sasusaku, sadly, but lots of pondering and frustration! Yay! Bwahahaha…I'm feeling rather devious. Mmm…what will happen to Sasuke next? (grins evilly) Ino's a tricky character when you get down to seeing things from her point of view-she seems so strong and self-confident, but I often wonder if that's not just a simple façade so that people won't pick on her like Sakura. Whereas Sakura wears her heart on her sleeve, so to speak, I get this feeling that Ino presents the world what the world wants to see and keeps her real self hidden so as to not get hurt. Hmmm…

**Neon kun**: I kinda like Sasuke OOC sometimes, but not too OOC, if that makes sense. Somehow, having Sasuke scream "I love you, Sakura!" to the whole world seems very unreal to me, and I can't see it, which can be a problem. I don't know. An OOC Sasuke is pretty sweet though. :) Thanks for reviewing!

**Akkirako Chikuro**: You _must_ teach me how to make that cool heart symbol thingy you put in your review! I love it! I'm glad you like the pacing and the story line-now that the plot is actually thickening, I hope it's starting to make a little more sense!

**MizzBlizz**: I love your pen name-it reminds me of Miz Frizzle from The Magic School Bus, which had to have been my absolute favorite television show when I was younger. In all honesty, it still is, but shhhh…XD Sasuke will figure out that Nami is Sakura eventually, but not quite yet:P

**Sasusaku4life**: haha-hope you liked this chapter!

**KittyCat918**: Thanks:)


	7. The Maid of the Mist

**Chapter Seven: The Maid of the Mist**

The _Sharingan _plunged and plunged again, and the brown-haired medic-nin was dunked into the sea to her waist and to her chest. Her body was weighed down heavily by the salty water, which made it difficult for her to swing her feet out of the now deadly liquid and onto the bowsprit. Each time she tried the ship would plummet, and the waves would come and snatch her back into its cold depths. Her head was pulled under the water twice, and as she would come up gasping for breath, her hair would be matted over her eyes. She was blinded for those moments, but could not use her hands to brush away the snake-like strands that prevented her from seeing anything.

The ship heaved upwards towards the bright sun, and Sakura tried to use its momentum to swing her body upwards. She timed herself too late though, for the ship dived again, forcing her legs back into the sea.

_This is it_, Inner Sakura said quietly, _This is how the famous medic-nin Haruno Sakura will die. Dammit! We never got that kiss from Sasuke-kun either!_

"This is what you're worried about at a time like this!" Sakura screeched mentally to her alter ago, "Are you mad!"

_Yes, I am. Mad would be an understatement. I am FURIOUS! You know that getting Sasuke-kun to kiss us was number 2 on the List-of-Things-that-Must-Be-Accomplished-before-Death._

"What was number 1?"

_Marry Sasuke-kun, of course! What did you suddenly get! Alzheimer's or something! Geesh!_

Sakura inwardly shook her head as she went under yet again, this time accidentally breathing as well, thus drawing water into her lungs. She came up coughing and sputtering, only to go back under without taking another breath of air. Her grip was slipping, as was her consciousness. She had expended too much chakra in trying to keep hold of the bowsprit that she was hanging off of. Her chakra strings around the piece of wood began to loosen, and her false brown eyes began to close. Green flecks started to appear within the brown iris, and her light brown hair was growing lighter. Energy left her, and her lungs filled themselves with water.

Suddenly, the S_haringan_'s medic-nin was hauled out of the sea and into someone's arms.

* * *

When he saw her fingers start slipping before he neared the end of the bowsprit, he flipped. Inwardly, of course-what kind of Uchiha would allow his feeling to show? He sprinted down the narrow beam to the end and grabbed the brown-haired girl's wrist, hauling her own of the water in one strong yank. He caught her under the arms and knees, holding her to him in a bridal-position, chakra concentrated to his feet. She immediately began gasping for air, hand coming up to clutch her soaked shirt as she racked her lungs.

He couldn't let her die yet. Not while he was still confused about her identity and why she seemed to be disguising herself.

Of course, it had nothing to do with the fact that he _might_ have felt something for her. That would be absolute blasphemy.

By the time he lept gently back down onto the main deck, the whole crew was quiet. Most of them could not believe that their captain's brother had just saved a worthless sailor out of the goodness of his heart.

"Uchiha," began Kin, "Why the hell did you do that?" She had wanted the medic dead from the start, and when she saw those creamy hands begin to slip, she was very happy indeed.

Sasuke simply glared at her. "We have a battle with Mist soon. Not having a medic on hand would be foolish."

A wave of agreement was muttered through the crowd, and Kin clutched her hands in anger. Damn that man for being so calculating! The crew began to part like the red sea, providing a path to the forecastle where Sakura could rest. They had just then realized exactly how crucial the brown-haired woman's position was at such a time and agreed among themselves that she must heal quickly so that if any of them were hurt, they would live to see more days and more battles.

A clicking sound that indicated footsteps could be heard then, and all fell quiet. Captain Itachi took his position on the quarterdeck and stood there, straight and tall with his hands behind his back. He looked almost regal in that position, which was very odd for a pirate captain who has spend many months aboard a dirty ship.

"Yoshizumi."

Hearing her code name, Sakura turned her head in the direction of his voice, indicating that she was listening. She didn't dare open her eyes because she recognized how low her chakra levels were and was willing to bet quiet a bit of money that if her eyelids flew up, a viridian green color would grace the crowd rather than a dark brown color. Maintaining her hair color was already taking most of her remaining chakra; she hoped that she could retreat to the darkness of the forecastle soon to regenerate her lost strength. Sasuke began to put her on the ground slowly, and she tried to find balance. It was difficult because she was very tired, so she ended up leaning on her savior, who had one arm around her waist and the other holding her left arm around his neck.

"When I ask you to do a job," Itachi said, "it's you I ask, and not another. You are lucky that you possess such a vital position on this ship; otherwise, I am quite sure that my ototou would have let you meet the bottom dwellers of the ocean."

With that, he turned away with a slight smirk on his face. He had to seem tough in front of his men, but inwardly, he was doing cartwheels. He had seen his brother's initial reaction, and he knew that it wasn't because she was the only medic-nin aboard. Hard eyes had softened at the scene when he saw the younger version of himself haul up the near-unconscious woman.

"I'm glad that you're becoming human again, Otouto," he whispered quietly to himself, walking back into his cabin.

Sasuke glared at his brother's back before turning his attention to the woman in his arms. He began to move in the direction of the forecastle, where Ino had just disappeared into. He assumed that she was going to find a clean set of clothes for her newfound friend. Unfortunately for him, Sakura could barely keep moving, even though she tried terribly hard. Swallowing a grunt of frustration, the onyx-eyed man swiftly swung her into his arms once more and carried her inside.

"It's far quicker this way anyway," he thought to himself, looking for an excuse, "She was getting annoying."

When they entered the dark room, he noticed that Ino had lit a candle in order to find dry clothes for her friend. Sasuke carried his charge to her hammock, where he set her down. He threw her his dark blue towel, which had been hanging on a nail that was jammed into the wall.

"Thank you," he heard her say as she bent her head. Allowing her bangs to cover her eyes, Sakura was able to see the towel and the floor beneath her feet. She reached behind her to take out her braid, but found that someone was already doing it for her.

"Hey Nami-chan," came Ino's voice from above her, "You gave us quite the scare."

"Sorry," replied Sakura sheepishly. No other words were exchanged between the two as Ino took out the braid, and Sasuke left the women to themselves. He was not liking the way his body was reacting to the soaked medic, and sticking about longer would only make matters worse.

He needed a cold shower, badly.

It was then that he decided that women with waterlogged clothes that clung to their every curve were extremely troublesome. He also resolved to figure out her identity as soon as possible, even if he had to use force. Sasuke sighed as he calmed himself down before exiting the dark room.

After all, he was human too.

* * *

She could feel herself swaying gently as the ship rolled over the waves.

_I don't want to get up yet…_whined Inner Sakura, who was currently sporting a pair of dark sunglasses and lying in a hammock tanning on some deserted beach.

Despite the actions of her inner self, Sakura's eyes fluttered open, only to be greeted by a familiar crop of raven hair and a kunai pressed to her neck.

"Who are you," he stated, not caring at the moment that she had just woken up.

"Wha…? What are you doing?"

He pressed the kunai harder into her skin, but not hard enough to draw blood.

"You have an increased amount of chakra around your eyes and hair. Your vocabulary and manner are not common to those who have been raised among fishermen. Moreover, a mere fisherman would not have had enough money to train his daughter in the medical arts. Who are you."

Inner Sakura fell out of her hammock and scrambled to get upright. _Shit._

Sakura took in a quick breath.

"My father was among the best fishermen-"

"Don't play with me."

A vein began to pop out of her forehead.

_Beat him up! I'm going to smash him into a pulp, regardless of the fact that he's Sasuke-kun. Gah! Why can't he be stupid and oblivious for once! Think of something, quick!_

"There was a woman who passed by our village once. She was a medic, and I spent three years as her apprentice. My late mother was her cousin. She taught me and trained me to be a healer for the people. Last year, a group of pirates sacked my home and demolished our humble community. Just a month ago, I learned that the pirates were those aboard the _Sharingan_. I intend to have my revenge against those who heartlessly murdered my family and my friends. This is the reason for my deception."

"Hn," he said, giving her the "I-don't-believe-you-look."

Just then, the ship plunged, and Sasuke's kunai accidentally drew blood. Sakura gave a slight yelp and Sasuke yanked the kunai back immediately, inwardly mortified at the red trickle of blood that was starting to gush out. It was a light cut-easy to fix. His fingers went to her neck, touching it gently as it swept up the thin stream of blood. He healed the cut with a little of his own chakra, leaving no scar behind. She watched him with wide brown eyes as she felt his fingers linger on her skin.

It suddenly hit her.

"Oh Kami-sama, I'm not in the ocean!"

In her excitement, she flipped over on her hammock, away from Sasuke's touch, landing in an ungraceful position on the floor. Immediately, she kissed the wooden panels, thankful to be back on some sort of ground. Inner Sakura had somehow built a shrine that worshiped the deck of the _Sharingan_ and was bowing down repeatedly to it. The Uchiha simply raised an eyebrow at his shipmate's antics. They were amusing, to say the least. It almost reminded him of his former teammates-her actions were something both Naruto and Sakura would do…

Onyx eyes hardened at the thought. No, he didn't need them. He had sworn to himself that he wouldn't think of them anymore, nor would he think of his silver-haired teacher. They were his weakness, and he could not be weak, especially in the vicinity of his brother. Abruptly, he turned around and headed out of the forecastle and onto the deck, where his face showed no emotion.

Silently, he cursed himself for his rash actions earlier. He should have just let her drown, but he didn't. What was he thinking? He was ridiculously out of character, and none of his deeds were calculated-in fact, they were almost emotional-as emotional as an Uchiha could get, anyway.

"Why?" he whispered quietly to himself.

The only answer he got was a faint whisper of the wind as it swept past his ears.

"She reminds you of _her_."

* * *

To say that the crew members of the _Sharingan_ were excited when the _Maid of the Mist_ came into view would be a complete understatement. Everyone was armed to the teeth with weapons, freshly cleaned and sharpened. The metal glinted brightly in the light as the ninjas moved about restlessly, waiting for the other ship to come within boarding distance. It was late afternoon-two hours before sunset-the perfect time for battle.

"Don't forget," said Itachi in a low voice to his crew, "We want those prisoners alive."

"HAI!" came the general shout as they scurried like ants to their battle positions. Only a few people were to stay onboard the _Sharingan_ to protect it from being boarded by the Mist ninjas. Shikamaru, Itachi, Zaku, Ino and Sakura were to stay while everyone else was ordered to go and assist in the capture. Itachi stayed because he was the captain and could not be killed; Shikamary stayed because he was the head tactician and possessed great shadow jutsus; Zaku stayed because there had to be another man besides the captain and the strategist who could fight hand to hand, and Ino stayed because of her mind-controlling abilities. Sakura was forced to stay because of her medical abilities-anyone who was hurt would be immediately treated by her.

It didn't take long for them to reach the targeted ship. Immediately, the grapples were shot out so that the _Sharingan_ would be attached to the _Maid of the Mist_. The ninjas climbed over rapidly and lowered ladders that stretched across the two ships, throwing kunai and shuriken at the armed guards who were also throwing various metal weapons in a vain attempt at keeping the missing-nins at bay. The guards hacked away at the grapple lines, hoping to cut through the thick rope and free the Mist ship, but nothing worked. The _Sharingan _ninjas were too fast and crossed the lines quickly, killing the guards.

Twenty-three-year-old Uchiha Sasuke was no different from his own shipmates. Like them, he had been itching for battle. Itachi never allowed him to train anymore onboard the ship, so it was only during battles like these that he was able to practice and evaluate himself and his own strength. Swiftly, he ran across the ladder, landing with a forward flip onto the deck. A man with a bandaged eye came running at him, katana raised and poised to strike at his heart. The raven-haired man pulled out his own katana immediately and blocked the strong strike. He smirked at the one-eyed man.

"You'll never beat me," he said coolly.

The simple statement only inflamed the man more, for he arced his sword downward, swinging it out of its interlocked position with Sasuke's sword while forcing the other sword to follow it as well. The man attacked again, this time going in from the right side, but his move was once again blocked. The two parried and thrust at one another, neither drawing blood.

From the corner of his eye, he saw another man aiming at him with toxic needles. Quickly, he turned and flipped behind his opponent, causing his challenger to be pieced with the poisoned needle. Knowing that the man did not have much longer before he became fully paralyzed, Sasuke slashed furiously at the man, who blocked each strike determinedly. He was one to fight to the death, and he was proud to go down while protecting his captain's ship. Annoyed with the amount of time it was taking to defeat the Mist shinobi, Sasuke pulled out a kunai and used his katana as a diversion as he shoved the small weapon into his opponent's heart.

The ninja moved on from there in the direction of the captain's cabin. Logic would have it that the maidens they were to capture would be locked inside under the protection of the best men. They were, after all, daughters of men of great fortune. Such women would be under the highest guard, no matter where they went…

…which is what led to a question that Sasuke didn't have time to consider. Why was Sakura a ninja if her family background was as Ino said it was? Shouldn't she have been guarded like a treasure as well since such kidnapping situations happened so often?

He moved quickly, making use of his shuriken and kunai. His katana had saved him from many lethal blows and cuts. He blocked, he lunged, and he jumped. Their mission was to get in and get out with the prisoners quickly. He didn't have much time to train or defeat everyone in his path.

Sasuke flipped up the stairs that led to the quarterdeck, where the captain's cabin was built. Here, the battles were much tougher-the ninjas were more highly trained than those on the main deck. Five guards came at him at once, causing him to have to leap upwards to avoid five extremely sharp spears. He cursed under his breath. Why oh why could he have not brought his fuma shuriken with him?

He landed on top of the captain's cabin, stopping only for a moment to regroup and form a plan. There were five guards and most likely two within the cabin itself. All of them would be skilled with a sword, and if five of them were to go at him at once, he doubted that he could fight them with only one blade. Where was everyone else anyway?

"Well well well…what do we have here?" came a voice from behind him. Sasuke immediately turned around and was faced with the head guard, noted by his uniform. He was dressed in regal-looking clothing, with deep purple and gold wrappings. He carried a pair of kodachi, which seemed odd to Sasuke because of their defensive nature.

"If it isn't the little missing Sasuke-kun."

The Uchiha narrowed his eyes. This man knew of him, apparently, and for some reason, it annoyed him greatly. Not only that, but he used that ridiculous suffix that his fan girls back home always used to use.

"Back…home…?" Sasuke thought for a brief moment. He shook his head, ridding himself of the thought. Now was not the time to think-

Bam. He felt his body fly backwards as the guard punched him hard in the stomach.

"Dammit!" he cursed, flipping around while wiping blood that had spurted from the corner of his mouth. Using the main mast as a surface, he shoved himself off of it, thus generating a lot of force to go back to the guard, who had both of his kodachi raised. Sasuke performed a quick series of hand seals and pulled out his shuriken.

"Kage shuriken no jutsu!"

The move wasn't as effective as it could have been, for Sasuke used two small shuriken rather than the fuma shuriken, but it was effective enough. The guard dodged the first shuriken, but was not prepared for the second, which was hidden by the shadow of the first. It cut his finely chiseled face, leaving a thin stream of blood behind.

"Why you insolent brat!" cried the guard, clutching his face, "You ruined my appearance! Now what will my Sakura-chan say!"

At Sakura's a name, Sasuke's bloodline limit was turned on, changing his eyes from black to red. It was then that he realized that he couldn't move. Invisible strands seemed to have wrapped themselves around his arms and hands, leaning him completely motionless.

The guard smirked at his reaction. "Do you like my spider jutsu? Near invisible strands of silk ten thousand times stronger than steel. Amazing, is it not?"

He snapped his fingers. Four other ninjas instantly surrounded him. Sasuke could feel the curse mark heating up, and he was sorely tempted to release it and allow power to consume him. He knew the risks, and at the moment, he was willing to take them.

The ninjas surrounding the _Sharingan_ shinobi closed in around him and prepared to strike at his heart, which would effectively kill him. However, the head guard made a stopping gesture.

"He's safe there. I want to play with him a little."

Sasuke narrowed his eye, brain racing quickly to think of a way out. His hands were merely held apart, but he could deal with that. He was hanging on the main mast, which had quite a few splinters in it. Now if he could just…

The guard was grinning maliciously as he observed his prey. "Didn't you hear me, _Sasuke-_kun?" he asked tauntingly, "I said _my_ Sakura-chan. She's not yours anymore, Uchiha. You lost her the second you left your little village! Did you know that she's terribly good in bed? Fiesty little thing. But of course you wouldn't know."

The guard scoffed as he laughed once more. "All I have to do is touch her and she begs for more. It's _my_ name that she moans now, Uchiha."

Rage filled the missing-nin as he felt his chakra drain from his body due to the use of the Sharingan.

"Yeah, that's right," said the guard, egging him on, "it took a little while to convince her that you were never going back for her. I was an ambassador to Konoha from Mist-funny how quickly she bought my pretty words…she's gorgeous, don't you think? That first night-"

Without Kakashi's seal on the cursed seal, Sasuke could feel immense power generate within him. Black marks began to form on his arms and face as the white of his eyes turned gray. He grinned insanely, filled with a lust for blood as he dashed to where the guard stood, mouth wide open in disbelief. His calloused fingers ripped a large splinter from the mast and expertly aimed it at the guard's eye. Moments later, the guard had doubled over, blinded in one eye from the blood that had spurted forth.

The power from the seal was so immense that even the spidery strands holding him in place were broken. Unleashed, the demon that was now Sasuke tore forward at the guard, disregarding all the other ninjas around him. He was hell bent on killing the man who claimed he had taken his Sakura's innocence.

Haruno Sakura was _his_ and no one else's. The curse seal had not only awakened power within the man, but also a sense of raw possession that could not be controlled.

"Sasuke-kun!" came an overly familiar voice, "STOP IT!"

He paused only for a moment, but dismissed the command as a figment of his imagination. He charged again, only to feel a weight thrown onto his back. He kept moving and used his momentum to throw the body off into the railings. A loud crack was heard as the body landed. Quickly, in his anger, he beheaded the petrified guard and turned around to meet the other four guards.

"Sasuke-kun!" he heard again, this time from his left. He raised his katana defensively and allowed his gaze to shift towards the sound. There sat Yoshizumi Nami, plain as day, nursing quite a few bruises and a possible broken arm. He had tossed her too wildly and too harshly into the rails without realizing who the person on his back was.

Red eyes met brown eyes.

"Stop it," he saw her mouth at him. He ignored her, turning his full attention back on the four ninjas.

Suddenly, there were only three ninjas clad in black who opposed him.

He swiftly swung into action. He easily distracted all three men because of his darkening form, and he saw three men from the _Sharingan_ sneak by, entering the captain's quarters. The trio attacked him simultaneously, as if they had been trained for three-person attacks. Sasuke blocked most of them, but still ended up with a long, jagged gash on his left arm from on particular nasty ice jutsu they used.

By this time, the curse mark had overtaken his entire body, and he could feel a set of wings begin to piece his back. Quickly, he made a few hand seals.

"Katon Karyuu Endan!" he shouted, producing a wall of fire between the men and the cabin. The ninjas tried to get through, but were burnt in the process. Grinning evilly, he ran his katana through the flames, delighting in the anguished screams he heard. He had cut them exactly in half horizontally, allowing them a slow and painful death by slashing through the gut rather than the heart.

Sasuke turned to enter the cabin but was once more stopped by a voice.

"Missing something?" it said. He turned and was provided with a sight that inflamed him. The missing ninja had his arms around an immobile brown-haired woman.

"Rather pathetic, don't you think?" asked the captor, who ran a long finger down a dirty and grimy cheek, "She came so far only to meet the sight of a demon. Shame, isn't it?" He then kissed the cheek he had touched.

"Lovely little thing. Delicate."

Sasuke immediately formed the hand seals necessary for the chidori. Than filthy man dared to pollute Yoshizumi's face with his hand. Two moments later, right before he was about to release the mass amount of chakra, he felt two arms embrace his waist.

"Stop!" he heard the figure cry, pressing itself to him, "You'll kill yourself."

The wings that were about to open receded back into Sasuke, and his clawed hands turned human once more. He looked down and found a woman dressed in ripped cargo pants and a dusty dark blue shirt, crying and pressing herself to him.

"Stop," she sobbed, "Please stop."

Instinctively, he brought his injured left hand to encircle her frame as he turned quickly to block a strike that was coming from above. It was the same ninja who had touched the woman, except he had two kunai sticking out of his chest. One was just under the sternum, and the other was near his right arm. He also seemed to be bending over slightly, as if…

Sasuke almost winced in pity for the ninja. To get kicked in the nether regions was a very painful experience indeed. He did not doubt for a moment that the woman in his arms would have hesitated to aim for that particular spot.

By this time, Shino had reached the quarterdeck and somehow got through unscathed through the wall of flames. All Sasuke did was look at him briefly, and the bug man understood. Sakura was quickly removed from the raven-haired man and carried back to the _Sharingan_, where she would hopefully recover quickly enough to start treating the wounded. She was not badly hurt, the stoic Uchiha observed, and seemed only to be slightly dazed and rather emotional. Why she had defied her orders and come onboard the _Maid of the Mist_ was beyond him.

The ninja moved again and this time aimed for Sasuke's already injured left arm. He had been holding off the black-clad man with his right arm while Shino took away the medic. Rapidly, he performed a series of punches and kicks that were similar to Rock Lee's "Konoha Senpu," effectively disarming the guard while pushing a few crucial pressure points. He kicked the guard up to the sky and jumped up after him, placing himself directly beneath the armor-clad man.

"Kage Buyou!" he whispered with force as he immobilized his opponent. It was a simple taijutsu move that by itself was relatively harmless, but deadly when combined with any sort of jutsu. He then grabbed the ninja's back and quickly released it while kicking the ribs with his left leg. Amazingly enough, the man blocked it, but Sasuke had something else up his sleeve. The kick to the ribs was an obvious move and thus served as a diversion to the Sharingan holder's true motive. Sasuke did a 360-degree flip, thus giving the illusion that he will kick the ninja with his right leg, and the enemy prepared himself to block it. Instead, however, Sasuke raised his left hand and smacked the shinobi's face hard, sending him back down to the deck. He then punched him in the stomach, forcing him faster into the ground. They were just a few meters above the deck now, and Sasuke was ready to deliver the final move. He flipped forwards toward the enemy, smashing his left foot into the ninja's face, thus driving him into the deck and below.

Sasuke stood there for a few moments, catching his breath. The curse seal had finally become dormant again, and his Sharingan had receded. His eyes were their normal onyx color. Locating his sword, he snatched it back up and opened the door to the captain's cabin, where he saw his crewmates hauling the unconscious captives onto their backs. The two guards he predicted were there lay on the floor motionless, and the captain himself was chained to the wall. He nodded to the men carrying the women, and left the cabin, preparing himself to form a path for them to get back to the ship.

The mission was finally complete.

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A/N: I am SO incredibly sorry that I haven't been updating this fic! Hopefully this chapter made up for it-I tried to put a little more fluff into it without making Sasuke seem too much out of character. I fear that he is out of character now, and I am not happy with the last part of this chapter. Maybe I'll edit it sometime this week…let me know what you think, okay?

My exams went rather well, I hope. I really want that IB diploma! I will cry if I don't get it. I really will. Suffering four years in IB and not getting the diploma is just…depressing. I need a thesaurus. Ugh.

Well, prom is this coming Friday, and I'm really excited! School's starting to wind down too, which is nice. Yay! I hope this chapter was well worth the wait-do leave me your thoughts. I've never written a fight scene before, so I hope this one was okay! I'm wide open to suggestions on how I can improve-drop me a message/e-mail/review or something, okay?

By the way, I'm slightly worried that will remove my story if I keep thanking everyone in each chapter who have reviewed. As a result, I'll post a list and try to respond to each individual review by message:D I love you guys!

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**A big thank you to the THIRTY people who reviewed chapter six! I am so floored!**

P. Fishies (cute name, by the way), els1324, Natsuhiboshi, Seguha, Mystic water goddess, Akki-chan, animemistress419, frozen fire, XxaoshixX, Zuan, Kurenai Chinoumi, silvercage, gelayel, Queen Cow and Steak, Me-sama, UnheardSymphony, AekaAnime, SomepersonxP, sasuksaku4life, Tin-Can-Love (I love your pen name), kamilog, Tsunekunoichinoame, Sasuke's Wife Sakura Uchiha, Serenity, Cruisegirl, Lady-valasia, 55Itachi88, Holy Mother o'cheesecakes (hahahaha-OMG, your pen name cracks me up. I LOVE IT!), the Warmth of the Afterglow, and Crimson rose.

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**Random comments to people that I couldn't help but include:**

Akki-chan: Thank you for understanding! And thank you for teaching me how to do that spiffy heart thingy:) I hope you like this chapter!

Zuan: Yay! Cookie! Thanks! (munches happily)

Silvercage: You know, I just reread your comment, and I completely FORGOT to write fight sequences for Ino, Shikamaru, and Shino. Ugh. (bangs head on keyboard) Maybe next chapter? I should use the word "poopdeck." Teehee!

Queen Cow and Steak: Muahahaha. You know I deprive you of sasusaku moments just to spite you. (insert angelic grin here). Hopefully this chapter made up for the lack of fluff!

The Warmth of the Afterglow: (blush) Thank you. Haha-I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for your comment!

Crimson rose: Haha-thanks! But I don't think that would be possible. Lol!


	8. Chapter 8 Part I

Chapter Eight: Shots in Cannons (Part I)

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Please re-read chapters 5-7. They have been edited to make this fic slightly more interesting. Thanks!

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Sakura sighed as she leaned back against her chair, cradling a warm cup of tea in her hands. It had been a long day, and her watch was almost over. She was practically counting down the minutes to the time the bell would ring, signifying the end of the midwatch. What she wouldn't do to be in her hammock at that moment!

The crew was back onboard its rightful ship with the three captives. The _Sharingan_ pirates had suffered a few losses (one of their mates was thrown overboard and three others were killed) and quite a few wounds, but it was nothing couldn't be taken care of. As the ship's medic, Sakura was fully capable of stitching people up and setting broken bones. She had seen far worse during the frequent battles with Sound, and compared to the horrors she had experienced there, this was nothing.

When Shino had brought her back onboard, Ino had checked her over for broken bones. Thankfully, she was not harmed by Sasuke's hard throw and only retained a few bruises that were easily fixed with her special ointment. She received a lecture from Shikamaru, but other than that, she escaped relatively unscathed. They understood her reason for leaving, and Itachi seemed to turn a blind eye on the whole situation. A few minutes afterwards, she was in the gallery, mixing together herbs rapidly to create the bruise balm for incoming patients.

Patient after patient filed in, some with serious injuries like kunai wounds near the heart and others with minor ones like splinters. Those who just needed the bruise ointment or a few bandages were sent to Ino, while those in critical condition were sent immediately to Sakura. The long table in the gallery had been converted to an operating table, disinfected with what seemed to be gallons of ethanol and sterilization jutsus.

Four men and one woman required surgeries. Sakura had drafted Shikamaru and Zaku to help her, leaving Ino to do the basic patching up. She complained, of course, but it was for the best. Shikamaru had a steady hand, and Zaku was there to stabilize the patients while Sakura worked. The three-person team worked quickly and accurately, saving all five people. One had a kunai that pierced the area near his heart. Another had an injury that was too close to his Achilles tendon. Two had wounds to the gut, and the final one needed the muscles in his leg sewn up. Something had literally ripped through many layers of muscle in the poor man, and it was very difficult for Sakura to fix all of it.

By the time she was finished, there were more men who needed tending to. By now, most of them just needed a few bones set or a couple wounds stitched. She really thought she was finished, but then she remembered something from the time she was aboard the enemy ship.

She recalled that Sasuke had a huge gash in his left arm, and she had not seen a single hair on his head since she had been brought back. That, of course, sent her into a worrying mood, and when she questioned Ino about it, the blonde merely shook her head. Sasuke hadn't been to see her either.

This caused Sakura to search the ship, looking for the missing shinobi. She found him perched on the beam of the foresail, clumsily redressing his wound.

"It's going to get infected if you let it stay like that," she had told him while leaning on the foremast. She was tired, and she really wasn't in the mood to deal with a stubborn man. Sasuke didn't seem to hear her and continued to do what he was doing. Inner Sakura naturally had a fit.

_Damn it! Stop acting like you don't need anyone!_ Sakura's alter ego screamed, _Just watch! You're going to have to get your arm amputated because of gang green or something nasty like that! Idiot! Stubborn mule!_

Frustrated and tired, Sakura pushed herself off the foremast and walked toward the obstinate and apparently deaf ninja. She plunked herself down to the left of him and took his arm into her lap, efficiently stopping him from his goal of bandaging his own arm. She unwrapped it and looked at the wound.

"At least you've washed it out," she muttered darkly under her breath. She formed a few hand seals and pressed her fingers to the wound. The change was almost immediate. Sasuke could feel his torn skin and top layer of muscle knit together as a blue light from the chakra the medic was emitting covered his arm. It stopped moments later, and he noted that the woman sitting next to him was breathing harder than usual. Beads of sweat had formed on her brow, and it was quite obvious that she was tired.

He took his arm back and inspected it. There was still a thin line of blood, but that could be easily taken care of with a bandage. He began to wrap white cloth around it and tied it neatly, only to feel a weight on his shoulder.

Dark eyes shifted to the left. If he wasn't Uchiha Sasuke, he might have smiled, but he was the distant, detached ninja, so his face stayed straight. Sakura had fallen into a light sleep and decided that Sasuke's shoulder would serve as a rather comfortable pillow. Loose brown hair that escaped from the long braid was splayed on his shoulder and in her face, tickling her nose as she breathed evenly. Despite the fact that he liked to keep to himself, Sasuke did allow his newly bandaged arm to snake behind her, providing her with a small sense of security.

After all, she was the medic nin and therefore must be protected. Imagine if she fell off the sail! That would be chaos indeed…The woman named Yoshizumi Nami was exhausted, and her chakra had been expended. Her body was not made to generate much chakra, but she conserved as much as she could to help as many people as possible.

The medic closed her eyes and let her hand place the cup of tea down on the once bloody table as she recounted with a smile how she woke up to something extremely warm. It seemed rather crass to be using the table that had been an operating table just a few hours before, but there was nothing else in the gallery to use. She had already scrubbed the table down twice with ethanol and disinfectants, and there were no traces of blood anywhere in the small room.

_Silly Sasuke. Always having to act unapproachable._

Sakura had been pleasantly surprised when she saw Sasuke and how his arm was around her waist. He retracted it quickly after seeing her wake, but still made sure that the shock of him doing so would not make her fall.

"I don't want to be responsible for the injury of a klutzy medic," were the only words he had given her when she looked at him with a question in her eyes.

Sakura allowed herself a small chuckle as she leaned back further in the hard, wooden chair. Fifteen more minutes, and she would be free to lie down in her hammock and sleep.

Sensitive ears picked up the sound of the gallery door opening and closing. She furrowed her eyebrows. It better not be some pirate wanting her to cook. If it was, he or she would be in for a nasty surprise.

_I'm thinking sodium polyacrylate. You know, that huge polymer that sucks up 800 times its weight in water-usually found in diapers. Imagine putting that in someone's food. That would be a long and painful death of dehydration…_cackled Inner Sakura with an evil glint in her eye. Sakura silently agreed, thankful for the small jar of white sodium polyacrylate powder she had brought with her-one never knows when one might need it. Come to think of it, it could easily be disguised as corn starch as long as it stayed dry…

"Sakura-chan?"

The tired woman raised to head to catch a glimpse of the owner of the voice, thinking it was Ino. Her eyes widened.

There stood her twin in the doorway, dressed in her trademark clothes, twirling a strand of strawberry-pink hair around one finger nervously.

"Uh…hi?" said the look-alike sheepishly, slightly afraid.

A vein popped on Sakura's forehead, and hell broke loose in the kitchen.

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Aburame Shino was often overlooked when it came to the relative importance of jounins. For example, Nara Shikamaru was immediately the go-to guy because of his brilliant mind and high IQ, and Yamanaka Ino was usually associated with him because they were a couple. Team Seven was always in the spotlight for obvious reasons (really, having a team with someone who has a demon in his belly and can summon frogs, another with a dead family and a psychotic brother, and yet another with an insane punch and medical skills could not be easily overlooked), and both Neji and Hinata played parts in the Hyuuga clan feud. Tenten (now Hyuuga Tenten) was always praised for her skills with weapons, and Akimichi Chouji was known for rivaling Naruto in eating ramen and Korean barbeque.

So who was Aburame Shino again? Oh yeah-that creepy guy with bugs living inside of him. Yech. It's not like he can really do anything special anyway.

The twenty-four-year-old man sighed as he went to relieve a fellow crewmate of his watch. It wasn't like he could really sleep anyway-there was something that was making his bugs antsy (no pun intended). He looked up at the sky. It was relatively cloudy, but that made sense in seeing that it was about four in the morning. The sea, however, was a little rougher than normal, and the air was thickened with moisture. Winds rose and fell in a peculiar pattern, and this sent Shino into a relatively mild state of confusion. Usually the winds blew in one way, not two.

He then noticed that the light in the captain's cabin was lit and gave a silent command to a few of his little critters to bring back information on what the elder Uchiha was doing. They scuttled off in the general direction of the quarterdeck, returning about half an hour later. He lazily held one to his ear and translated bug speech into human speech.

The captain, Kisame, and Kabuto were apparently arguing about something.

"I don't want to avoid it!" Itachi had said in a dangerous voice, "We have a deadline to meet."

"No goods are going to be of any use if they're at the bottom of the sea!" argued Kisame.

Itachi had then glared at him. "I am the captain of this ship," he said, "Do not disobey my orders. We _will_ sail through this hurricane."

Shino could hear footsteps coming up behind him.

"Well?" came Sasuke's monotonous voice. He, too, was curious as to why the lights were on.

"Hurricane. We're sailing through it."

Sasuke nodded. His brother was trying to move fast, and if he set the ship right at the hurricane's edge, it would blow them all the way to Water Country like a pound of shot in a two pound cannon.

Then again, if that stupid aniki of his didn't get it right, the entire crew would be two pounds of shot in a one pound cannon.

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A/N: I know this is a short chapter, but I just got all four of my wisdom teeth pulled and I'm on about three pain meds and penicillin, and they're making me really tired and I can't think straight. Sorry about that, guys. Part 2 of chapter 8 will be up before next Saturday, and I think I'm still going to update next Saturday.

I'm leaving for college on August 14, so please don't expect an update August 19. I have freshman orientation that day. Hope you guys understand…thanks!

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**I GOT 42 REVIEWS FOR CHAPTER SEVEN! I LOVE YOU GUYS! THANK YOU ALL!**

Siks.forever, seguha, sasusaku4life, serenity, animelover21065, animemistress419, Sayomi-sama, AekaAnime, darkofthenight, Micymill-chan, Sasuke's Wife Sakura Uchiha, Natsuhiboshi, boredoutofmymind, The Warmth of the Afterglow, ninjaxbunny, xelagirl2, tirap, Bloody Sakura Leaves, Crimson Rose, Queen Cow and Steak, Hidden nightmares, nklgh, starrgirl93, aznwitbra1nz, Tin-can-love, kamilog, Sasuke's lover, Tsumii, Kaka, neojoy02, lazybluishgurl013, Michiyo-chan, Just me and myself, Animevivverz, you don't need to know that, Fire Kitsune, ToCornot77, strawberry smoothies, Beware my spork, Poison's Ivy, sasukesluver101

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Michiyo-chan: I got the name Nami from "One Piece" because it means "wave" in Japanese. I thought it would be appropriate. I actually don't know the Nami from One Piece's last name, but Yoshizumi is the last name of one of my favorite manga artists (the Marmalade Boy creator).

Neojoy02: Thank you for your compliments! I'm so sorry about the long wait. (grins sheepishly). I decided that a vacation to Pluto was much needed, so I exited Earth's orbit. Terribly sorry. Haha. I am actually not very good at writing battle scenes, but I will work on it! After this fic is finished (or maybe before then), I'll edit the fight scenes so they're a little longer. I feel inspired after watching Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest! "Where's the thump-thump!"

Queen Cow and Steak: I assure you, Sasuke will flip in the next chapter. (insert giant grin here)

Crimson rose: thank you for **two** reviews! I feel very loved! And I admit-your review reminded me exactly how long I've neglected this fic. Thanks again! (hug)

The Warmth of the Afterglow: I'm issuing a challenge from your review. Everyone must write a fic where the line: "Itachi killed Sasuke's clam" exists. That would be hilarious!

Sasusaku4life: Thank you for bringing up Sasuke's obliviousness to my attention. I'll try and fix it when I polish up this fic once it's done. Thank you so much!


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